MEMS humidity sensor based on phase detection principle and preparation method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical systems (RF MEMS), in particular to an MEMS humidity sensor based on a phase detection principle and a preparation method thereof.
Background
Humidity, which generally refers to the level of water vapor in the air, is used to reflect the degree of dryness and wetness of the atmosphere. Air humidity is directly related to daily work, life and production of people, so that the monitoring and control of the humidity are more and more important. However, humidity is one of the most difficult parameters to measure accurately in conventional environmental parameters. The traditional hygrometer cannot meet the actual needs at present, so that the research on a novel humidity sensor is necessary. Humidity sensors have been widely used in various fields including national defense aviation, weather detection, industrial control, agricultural production, medical equipment, etc., and in recent years, miniaturization is an important direction of development of humidity sensors, and existing miniature humidity sensors mainly include capacitive, resistive, piezoresistive, etc. types. At present, a high-energy MEMS humidity sensor is urgently required, and the MEMS humidity sensor has the characteristics of simple structure, high sensitivity, low cost and the like. As humans walk into the information age, MEMS sensors are rapidly developed as devices for capturing information, and are in a very important position in the development of modern highly informative social technologies, and due to intensive research on RF MEMS technology and moisture sensing materials, MEMS humidity sensors based on the phase detection principle, which satisfy the above characteristics, are possible.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the problems, the invention provides the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method thereof, wherein the groove is arranged on the substrate, the humidity of the external environment is sensed by utilizing the water absorption of the humidity sensing layer in the groove, the dielectric constant of the humidity sensing layer can change along with the humidity of the external environment, the capacitance between the MEMS beam and the CPW signal line is caused to change, and the phase of the RF signal on the CPW transmission line is further caused to change, so that the environment humidity can be obtained by measuring the phase of the RF signal.
In order to achieve the above purpose, the invention adopts a technical scheme that:
The MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle comprises a CPW transmission line, MEMS beams, MEMS films and through holes, wherein the CPW transmission line is arranged on a substrate and comprises a CPW signal line positioned at the middle part of the substrate and CPW ground lines positioned at two sides of the CPW signal line, the CPW signal line and the CPW ground lines are mutually parallel, the substrate is provided with grooves positioned below the middle part of the CPW signal line, the MEMS beams are positioned at the bottom surface of the grooves and two side surfaces close to the CPW ground lines and are in inverted arch bridge shapes and connected with the CPW ground lines, the MEMS films are positioned above the grooves and are in contact with the bottom surface of the CPW signal line, two ends of the MEMS films are positioned on the CPW ground lines, and the parts of the MEMS films positioned at two sides of the CPW signal line are provided with the through holes, and the humidity sensing layers are positioned between the MEMS beams and the MEMS films and fill the inner space of the grooves.
Further, the groove is a U-shaped groove, the central axis of the groove is parallel to the CPW signal line, and the CPW signal line is located right above the groove.
Further, the through holes on the MEMS film are composed of a plurality of dense small holes, so that the humidity sensing layer can be fully contacted with the outside air.
Further, a buffer medium layer is arranged on the surfaces of the substrate and the groove.
A preparation method of the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle comprises the following steps of preparing a Si substrate, etching a groove on the substrate, growing a buffer medium layer on the substrate through a thermal oxidation mode, obtaining a MEMS beam and a CPW ground wire on the buffer medium layer through photoetching, evaporating and stripping in sequence, depositing and photoetching a humidity sensing layer in S30, reserving the humidity sensing layer in the groove, forming an MEMS film on the humidity sensing layer by adopting a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) process in S40, forming through holes on the parts of the MEMS film, which are positioned on two sides of the CPW signal line, evaporating titanium, gold and titanium seed layers in sequence in S50, photoetching, electroplating, removing photoresist and carrying out reverse etching to form the CPW signal line.
Further, the MEMS beam, the CPW ground wire and the CPW signal wire are made of gold.
Further, the substrate adopts high-resistance silicon, and the resistivity of the high-resistance silicon is more than 1kΩ & cm.
Further, the depth of the groove is 1-10 mu m, and the thicknesses of the MEMS beam, the CPW ground wire and the CPW signal wire are 0.5-5 mu m.
Further, the humidity sensing layer is made of polyimide, graphene oxide and other materials.
Further, the MEMS film adopts silicon nitride, and the thickness of the silicon nitride is 0.5-3 mu m.
Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention has the following advantages:
(1) The MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method thereof, provided by the invention, are combined with the RF MEMS technology, and have the advantages of simple structure, good consistency and easiness in measurement.
(2) According to the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method, the humidity value of the external environment is solved by acquiring the change of the phase value of the device by utilizing the water absorption of the humidity sensing layer, and the device has high sensitivity.
(3) According to the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method, as the MEMS beam is arranged in the groove on the substrate, the packaging of the device is easy.
(4) The MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method thereof are compatible in preparation process and Si-based process, and have the advantages of small size, chip area saving, integration level improvement, relatively low price under mass production, and zero direct current power consumption due to the adoption of a full passive structure.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a top view of a MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section B-B of a MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method for manufacturing a MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIGS. 5-9 are flowcharts illustrating a manufacturing process of a MEMS humidity sensor based on a phase detection principle according to an embodiment of the present invention;
the parts in the figure are numbered as follows:
1CPW signal line, 12 CPW ground lines, 13 substrates, 131 grooves, 132 buffer medium layers, 2 MEMS films, 3 MEMS beams, 4 moisture sensitive layers and 5 through holes.
Description of the embodiments
For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that in various embodiments of the present application, numerous technical details have been set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. The claimed application may be practiced without these specific details and with various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments. The following embodiments are divided for convenience of description, and should not be construed as limiting the specific implementation of the present application, and the embodiments can be mutually combined and referred to without contradiction.
Example 1
The embodiment provides a MEMS humidity sensor based on a phase detection principle, which comprises a CPW transmission line, a substrate 13, a groove 131, a buffer medium layer 132, a MEMS film 2, a MEMS beam 3, a humidity sensing layer 4 and a through hole 5 as shown in figures 1-3.
Specifically, the CPW transmission line is horizontally disposed on the substrate 13, and includes a CPW signal line 1 located in the middle of the substrate 13, and two CPW ground lines 12 located on two sides of the CPW signal line 1, where the CPW signal line 1 and the CPW ground lines 12 may be disposed parallel to each other.
The groove 131 is positioned on the substrate 13 right below the CPW signal line 1, the groove 131 is a U-shaped groove, the central axis of the groove 131 is parallel to the CPW signal line 1, and the buffer medium layer 132 is arranged on the surfaces of the substrate 13 and the groove 131.
The MEMS beams 3 are disposed on the bottom surface of the recess 131 and on two side surfaces close to the CPW ground wires 12 and are in an inverted arch bridge shape, and the MEMS beams 3 are connected to both of the CPW ground wires 12.
The MEMS film 2 is located right above the groove 131 and is in direct contact with the back surface of the CPW signal line 1, two ends of the MEMS film 2 are placed on the CPW ground line 12, and the portions of the MEMS film 2 located at two sides of the CPW signal line 1 are provided with through holes 5, and the through holes 5 are composed of a plurality of dense small holes, for example.
The humidity sensing layer 4 is located between the MEMS beam 3 and the MEMS film 2 and fills the inner space of the recess 131, the humidity sensing layer 4 is made of polyimide, graphene oxide or other materials, the humidity sensing layer 4 has water absorption property, the dielectric constant of the humidity sensing layer 4 changes with the humidity of the external environment, and the humidity sensing layer 4 is communicated with the external environment through the through hole 5.
When the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle works, the humidity sensing layer is used as a dielectric layer of the plate capacitor formed by the MEMS beam and the CPW signal line, and as the humidity sensing layer has water absorption, the dielectric constant of the plate capacitor can change along with the humidity of the external environment, so that the capacitance between the MEMS beam and the CPW signal line changes along with the humidity, and further the phase value of an RF signal on the CPW signal line changes, and the environment humidity can be obtained by measuring the phase of the RF signal.
Example 2
The invention also provides a preparation method of the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle, which is shown in figures 4-9 and comprises the following steps:
s10 prepares a substrate, which may be a common semiconductor substrate, such as a silicon substrate, using high-resistance silicon, having a resistivity of more than 1kΩ·cm. The higher the silicon substrate resistance, the lower the loss of the transmitted RF signal, the better the RF performance, and the more obvious the RF signal phase change is if the capacitance change is caused by the outside humidity change.
Etching a groove 131 on a substrate, and then growing a buffer medium layer 132 on the substrate in a thermal oxidation mode, as shown in fig. 5, wherein the depth of the groove is 1-10 μm;
S20, photoetching, evaporating and stripping are sequentially carried out on the buffer medium layer to obtain an MEMS beam 3 and a CPW ground wire 12, as shown in FIG. 6, wherein the thicknesses of the MEMS beam and the CPW ground wire are 0.5-5 mu m;
s30, depositing and photoetching a humidity sensing layer 4, and reserving the humidity sensing layer 4 inside the groove, as shown in FIG. 7;
S40, forming a MEMS film 2 on the moisture sensitive layer 4 using, for example, a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) process, and forming through holes 5 at portions of the MEMS film 2 located at both sides of the CPW signal line, as shown in fig. 8;
s50, sequentially evaporating the titanium seed layer, the gold seed layer and the titanium seed layer, and performing photoetching, electroplating, photoresist removal and back etching to form a CPW signal line 1, as shown in FIG. 9, wherein the thickness of the CPW signal line is 0.5-5 mu m.
Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention has the following advantages:
(1) The MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method thereof, provided by the invention, are combined with the RF MEMS technology, and have the advantages of simple structure, good consistency and easiness in measurement.
(2) According to the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method, the humidity value of the external environment is solved by acquiring the change of the phase value of the device by utilizing the water absorption of the humidity sensing layer, and the device has high sensitivity.
(3) According to the MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method, as the MEMS beam is arranged in the groove on the substrate, the packaging of the device is easy.
(4) The MEMS humidity sensor based on the phase detection principle and the preparation method thereof are compatible in preparation process and Si-based process, and have the advantages of small size, chip area saving, integration level improvement, relatively low price under mass production, and zero direct current power consumption due to the adoption of a full passive structure.
The above description is merely of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but all equivalent modifications or variations according to the present disclosure will be within the scope of the claims.