A low-flicker-noise MEMS electrothermal displacement sensing technique

A. Mohammadi, Mehmet R. Yuce, S. O. R. Moheimani

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

The sensitivity of an electrothermal displacement sensor is heavily dependent on its noise profile, particularly on the flicker noise inherent to the doped silicon heater. We show that the flicker noise in a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) electrothermal displacement sensor can be reduced by driving the silicon heaters with a high-frequency voltage. The proposed technique has been applied to a MEMS electrothermal sensor fabricated in the standard silicon-on-insulator process. Experimental results demonstrate an 8-dB improvement in noise level compared to the conventional measurement technique. The achieved noise floor is less than-100 dBVrms around the 20-Hz measured signal.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6327319
Pages (from-to)1279-1281
Number of pages3
JournalIEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechancial Systems
Volume21
Issue number6
Early online date9 Oct 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Dec 2012

Keywords

  • Electrothermal sensor
  • flicker noise
  • microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
  • nanopositioning

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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