A silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor

The paper describes the design, simulation and fabrication of a silicon pressure sensor. The device makes use a of monocrystalline silicon square diaphragm supported by a thick silicon rim. The diaphragm is fabricated by etching away the bulk silicon on a defined region until the required thickness is achieved. The sensor makes use of four piezoresistors diffused into the surface of a diaphragm close to the edges. The piezoresistors are arranged in the Wheatstone bridge configuration to achieve higher voltage sensitivity and low temperature sensitivity. The sensor has been designed and simulated using COVENTER and ANSYS software tools. The paper also discuss the results obtained from the simulations and the response from the fabricated sensor.