A study of the design of ZnO thin film pressure sensors

ISSN： 1362-3060

Source： International Journal of Electronics, Vol.87, Iss.8, 2000-08, pp. : 1013-1023

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Abstract

This study takes the first step in designing ZnO thin film pressure sensors with high operating temperatures. To fabricate the pressure sensors, ZnO thin films are deposited on SiO₂/(100)Si substrates to obtain structures similar to those of silicon-on-insulator. The optimal deposition parameters used to deposit the thin films are a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.269, a c-axis-oriented structure near 100% and an average grain size of 321 Å. Here, to simplify the ZnO thin film pressure sensor system, a new parameter, the ZnO resistance, which changes with the change of pressure, is analysed. ZnO thin film fabricated under the optimal conditions can work as a pressure sensor and its response value, which is proportional to pressure, is greater than 8 m/psi. The relative pressure can be obtained from the difference between the response value before applying pressure and after. Further, a special characteristic of these ZnO pressure sensors is that the pressure can be read even during gas inlet.