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A polycrystalline SiC-on-Si architecture for capacitive pressure sensing applications beyond 400 °C: Process development and device performance

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Abstract

To overcome the low fabrication yield associated with single crystalline 3C–SiC diaphragm-based high temperature capacitive pressure sensors fabricated by wafer bonding, we have developed an alternative based on a polycrystalline SiC-on-Si architecture. The capacitive pressure sensing element, i.e., a thin film diaphragm, was fabricated using low stress and high conductivity low-pressure chemical vapor deposition poly-SiC thin films, and the sensing architecture was formed by wafer bonding a poly-SiC film to a Si substrate using phosphosilicate glass bonding films. With a geometric aspect ratio of up to 800:1 and a maximum deflection load eight times or more to their thickness, the poly-SiC diaphragm-based sensors presented repeatable pressure sensing characteristics up to 500 °C.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Wen H. Ko and Professor Mehran Mehregany with the EECS Department at Case Western Reserve University for constructive discussions. The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. Ron Jezeski for maintaining the LPCVD deposition systems. Group member Allison Hess contributed the program code, which was later revised and enriched for the automated test setup. Andeen-Hagerling Inc. in Cleveland, OH, provided equipment for capacitance calibration. Device fabrication was performed in the Center for Micro- and Nano-Processing at Case Western Reserve University. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ECS 0367274.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA

    Jiangang Du & Christian A. Zorman

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  1. Jiangang Du
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  2. Christian A. Zorman
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Correspondence to Christian A. Zorman.

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Du, J., Zorman, C.A. A polycrystalline SiC-on-Si architecture for capacitive pressure sensing applications beyond 400 °C: Process development and device performance. Journal of Materials Research 28, 120–128 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.260

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