An integrated thermopile structure with high responsivity using any standard CMOS process

Date

1998-04-01

Author

Akın, Tayfun
Akar, Orhan
Külah, Haluk

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

87
views

0
downloads

This paper reports a new thermopile structure using n-poly/p(+)-active layers that are available in any CMOS technology. The thermopile structures are obtained by post-etching of the fabricated and bonded chips. P+-active layers are placed in n-well regions, which are protected from etching by the electrochemical etch-stop technique in a TMAH solution. The n-well regions are then removed using a short EDP etching to reduce the thermal conductivity of the suspended structures, improving the responsivity significantly. The characterization results show that Seebeck coefficients of the n-poly and p(+)-active layers are -320 +/- 15 and 430 +/- 20 mu V K-1, respectively, resulting in a total Seebeck coefficient of 750 +/- 35 mu V K-1. A two-arm bridge thermopile test structure results in a responsivity and a detectivity of 49.8 V W-1 and 5.75 x 10(6) cm Hz(1/2)W(-1), respectively, in vacuum when the n-well is removed.

Subject Keywords

Thermopiles, Infrared sensors, CMOS integration

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/34278

Journal

Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/s0924-4247(98)00038-7

Collections

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Article

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

An integrated thermopile structure with high responsivity using any standard CMOS process Olgun, Z; Akar, O; Külah, Haluk; Akin, T (1997-01-01) This paper reports a new thermopile structure using n-poly/p(+)-active layers that are available in any CMOS technology. The thermopile structures are obtained by post-etching of the fabricated and bonded chips. P+-active layers are placed in n-well regions, which are protected from etching by electrochemical etch-stop technique in a TMAH solution. The characterization results show that Seebeck coefficients of the n-poly and p(+)-active layers are -335 mu V/K and 450 mu V/K, respectively. Tests show that a ...
A low-power robust humidity sensor in a standard CMOS process Okcan, Burak; Akın, Tayfun (2007-11-01) This paper presents a low-cost thermal-conductivity-based humidity sensor implemented using a 0.6-mu m CMOS process, where suspended p-n junction diodes are used as the humidity-sensitive elements. The measurement method uses the difference between the thermal conductivities of air and water vapor at high temperatures by comparing the output voltages of two hea ted and thermally isolated diodes; one of which is exposed to the environment and has a humidity-dependent thermal conductance, while the other is s...
A low-cost small pixel uncooled infrared detector for large focal plane arrays using a standard CMOS process Eminoglu, S; Tanrikulu, MY; Tezcan, DS; Akın, Tayfun (2002-04-03) This paper reports the development of a low-cost, small pixel uncooled infrared detector using a standard CMOS process. The detector is based on a suspended and thermally isolated p(+)-active/n-well diode whose forward voltage changes due to an increase in the pixel temperature with absorbed infrared radiation. The detector is obtained with simple post-CMOS etching steps on dies fabricated using a standard n-well CMOS process. The post-CMOS process steps are achieved without needing any deposition or lithog...
A CMOS visible image sensor array using current mirroring integration readout circuitry Akbay, Selim Sermet; Bircan, A.; Akın, Tayfun (null; 2000-08-30) This paper reports the development of a CMOS visible sensor array using a high performance readout circuit called Current Mirroring Integration (CMI). The sensor element is a photodiode implemented using n-well and p+ -active layers available in any CMOS process. The current generated by optical excitation is mirrored and integrated in an off-pixel capacitor using the CMI readout circuit, which provides high injection efficiency, low input impedance, almost-zero and stable detector bias, and a high dynamic ...
A low-cost 128x128 uncooled infrared detector array in CMOS process Eminoglu, Selim; Tanrikulu, Mahmud Yusuf; Akın, Tayfun (2008-02-01) This paper discusses the implementation of a low-cost 128 x 128 uncooled infrared microbolometer detector array together with its integrated readout circuit (ROC) using a standard 0.35 mu m n-well CMOS and post-CMOS MEMS processes. The detector array can be created with simple bulk-micromachining processes after the CMOS fabrication, without the need for any complicated lithography or deposition steps. The array detectors are based on suspended p(+)-active/n-well diode microbolometers with a pixel size of 4...

Citation Formats

T. Akın, O. Akar, and H. Külah, “An integrated thermopile structure with high responsivity using any standard CMOS process,” Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical, pp. 218–224, 1998, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/34278.