A MEMS Photoacoustic Detector of Terahertz Radiation for Chemical Sensing
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2-2012
Abstract
A piezoelectric Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) cantilever pressure sensor was designed, modeled, fabricated, and tested for sensing the photoacoustic response of gases to terahertz (THz) radiation. The sensing layers were comprised of three thin films; a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric layer sandwiched between two metal contact layers. The sensor materials were deposited on the silicon device layer of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, which formed the physical structure of the cantilever. To release the cantilever, a hole was etched through the backside of the wafer and the buried oxide was removed with hydrofluoric acid. Devices were then tested in a custom made THz vacuum test chamber. Cantilever deflection was observed with a laser interferometer in the test chamber and preliminary data indicates the signals were caused by the photoacoustic effect. Future device data will also include the piezoelectric voltage signal analysis.
Source Publication
Procedia Engineering
Recommended Citation
Glauvitz, N. E., Blazevic, S., Coutu, R. A., Kistler, M., Medvedev, I. R., & Petkie, D. T. (2012). A MEMS Photoacoustic Detector of Terahertz Radiation for Chemical Sensing. Procedia Engineering, 47, 730–733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2012.09.251
Comments
This is an open access article published by Elsevier and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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