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Stable SOI micromachined electrostatic AC voltage reference

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Abstract

We have designed and manufactured a micromachined moving plate capacitor to be used as an AC voltage reference in electrical metrology. The reference is based on the characteristic AC current–voltage curve of the component having a maximum, the value of which ideally depends only on the geometry of the component and material properties of single crystalline silicon. The electrode surface stability is essential in this application and hence a new fabrication process has been developed to metallize both surfaces of an electrostatically actuated micromachined structure. The stability of the AC reference voltage at a frequency of 100 kHz and an RMS voltage value 6.4 V was measured to be ±60 ppm over 14 h.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been carried out under EMMA project (IST-2000-28261) financed by the European Commission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VTT Information Technology, Microsensing, P.O. Box 1207, 02044, Tampere, Finland

    Anu Kärkkäinen, Panu Pekko, James Dekker, Nadine Pesonen, Mika Suhonen, Aarne Oja, Jukka Kyynäräinen & Heikki Seppä

  2. VTT Information Technology, Microelectronics, P.O. Box 1208, 02044, Tampere, Finland

    Anu Kärkkäinen, Panu Pekko, James Dekker, Nadine Pesonen, Mika Suhonen, Aarne Oja, Jukka Kyynäräinen & Heikki Seppä

Authors
  1. Anu Kärkkäinen
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  2. Panu Pekko
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  3. James Dekker
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  4. Nadine Pesonen
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  5. Mika Suhonen
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  6. Aarne Oja
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  7. Jukka Kyynäräinen
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  8. Heikki Seppä
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Correspondence to Anu Kärkkäinen.

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Kärkkäinen, A., Pekko, P., Dekker, J. et al. Stable SOI micromachined electrostatic AC voltage reference. Microsyst Technol 12, 169–172 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-005-0005-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-005-0005-y

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