Design, Development, Fabrication, Packaging, and Testing of MEMS Pressure Sensors for Aerospace Applications

Abstract

In this chapter we present the design, fabrication, packaging, and calibration of silicon micro machined piezo-resistive pressure sensors for operation in the pressure range of 1.2–400 bar. Based on the detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA), the diaphragm dimensions and the optimized locations for the piezo-resistors are designed, to achieve the best performance parameters over a wide range of pressures, with minimum nonlinearity and adequate burst pressure. The process parameters are optimized and the pressure sensors fabricated in the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at IISc. The wafers are diced, the devices mounted on headers, wire bonded and packaged suitably, tested, and calibrated at the cell level to determine the adequacy of the performance parameters of the sensors for different pressure ranges. The results achieved on the pressure transducer assembly with Active Temperature Compensation and the offset compensation using electronics and EMI filters in a single package are presented. Excellent linearity within 0.5 % in the output voltage versus pressure is demonstrated, over the specified pressure ranges (i) 0−1.2 bar and (ii) 0−400 bar, and over the temperature range of −40°C to +80°C.