Modeling and simulation of MEMS based pressure sensor for industrial applications

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of design, modeling and simulation of MEMS pressure sensor is using COMSOL Multiphysics V4.3b. An attempt has been made to achieve high sensitivity by providing different structures for membrane (Circular, square, rectangle & triangle) with uniform surface area and thickness. Further, simulations have been carried out with various loads ranging from 0.1 to 1MPa assigning three materials viz., InP, GaAs and Silicon. From the analyses of simulation results, it has been observed that the pressure sensor with circular membrane provided InP material found to exhibit more deformation and high sensitivity of 17.3×10-12 for 10 µm thickness and 50.8×10-12 for 7 µm thickness. The reasons for enhancement in the sensitivity are discussed in detail as function of input load, dimensional changes of diaphragm and materials addition. These studies are highly useful to check and compute pressure in various industrial and environmental conditions.