Engineering Commons^™

Piezoresistive Feedback Control Of A Mems Thermal Actuator, Robert K. Messenger, Quentin Theodore Aten, Timothy W. Mclain, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

Feedback control of MEMS devices has the potential to significantly improve device performance and reliability. One of the main obstacles to its broader use is the small number of on-chip sensing options available to MEMS designers. A method of using integrated piezoresistive sensing is proposed and demonstrated as another option. Integrated piezoresistive sensing utilizes the inherent piezoresistive property of polycrystalline silicon from which many MEMS devices are fabricated. As compliant MEMS structure’s flex to perform their functions, their resistance changes. That resistance change can be used to transduce the structures’ deflection into an electrical signal. The piezoresistive microdisplacement transducer (PMT) …