Sensors and Actuators A 147 (2008) 522528

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Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sna

MEMS-based humidity sensor with integrated temperature compensation mechanism

Lung-Tai Chen a,c , Chia-Yen Lee b, , Wood-Hi Cheng a,
a

Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, 804 Kaohsiung, Taiwan Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Da-Yeh University, 515 Changhua, Taiwan c Micro-System Technology Center, Industrial Technology Research Institute, 709 Tainan, Taiwan
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This study applies conventional micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) techniques to develop a novel low-cost humidity sensor comprising a silicon substrate, a freestanding cantilever and an integrated resistive thermal sensor. The cantilever has a composite structure comprising a thin layer of platinum (Pt) deposited on a silicon nitride layer and then covered with a polyimide sensing layer. The cantilever deected in the upward direction as water molecules absorbed by the polyimide sensing layer. The humidity sensor chip caused a measurable change in the resistance of the platinum layer. By compensating the change in the measured resistance by the ambient temperature, the absolute value of the relative humidity can be directly derived. The experimental results show that the sensor has a time-response of 0.9 s when exposed to a sudden humidity change of 65%RH to 95%RH. The sensitivity of the sensors decreases as the temperature increases. Furthermore, the sensor with the longest Pt resistor has the greatest sensitivity. In additions, the temperature-calibrated resistance signal generated by the sensor varies linearly with the ambient humidity. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 8 December 2007 Received in revised form 19 May 2008 Accepted 17 June 2008 Available online 10 July 2008 Keywords: Cantilever Humidity sensor MEMS Temperature compensation

1. Introduction Humidity sensors are used in a wide variety of applications, ranging from process and environmental monitoring, to the provision of feed back signals in gas sensors, household appliances, automotive control systems, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, and so forth. To meet the micro-sensing requirements demanded in many modern industrial and commercial applications, such sensors are commonly fabricated using MEMS-based techniques [14]. In general, these micro-humidity sensors use some form of vapor-absorbent lm as a sensing material [57]. The electric properties of these lms change when exposed to humidity, and the magnitude of this change allows the value of the relative humidity to be determined. However, developing micro-sensors which exhibit a complete set of favorable characteristics, namely good linearity, high sensitivity, low hysteresis and a rapid response time, is problematic. For example, Story et al. [8] developed a polymetric-based humidity sensor which exhibited a high sensitivity (10 k /%RH),

Corresponding authors. Tel.: +886 7 5252000 4453; fax: +886 7 5254499. E-mail addresses: cy@mail.dyu.edu.tw (C.-Y. Lee), whcheng@mail.nsysu.edu.tw (W.-H. Cheng). 0924-4247/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.sna.2008.06.033

but exhibited a non-linear response and signicant hysteresis (100%). Many researchers have exploited the high deection sensitivity of cantilever structures to fabricate capacitive-type microhumidity sensors. For example, Chatzandroulis et al. [9] developed a capacitive-type humidity sensor incorporating a silicon-based micro-cantilever fabricated using a dry release process. The cantilever was suspended at a very small distance above a glass substrate and the relative humidity was determined by measuring the change in capacitance between the microstructure and the substrate as the micro-cantilever deformed as a result moisture absorption. The experimental results showed that the device had a sensitivity of around 1 fF/%RH. However, it lacked an adequate temperature compensation mechanism, and thus the sensing result will vary with the environment temperature. Recently, Lee et al. [10] demonstrated a capacitive-type humidity sensor with an integrated resistive temperature detector (RTD) type thermal resistor. In the proposed device, a polyimide layer was coated on the upper surface of the suspended micro-cantilever. It was shown experimentally that the device had a sensitivity of 2.0 nF/%RH and a response time of 1.1 s. However, the high bonding temperature was required to fabricate the composite cantilever structure. That will increase both the cost and the complexity of the fabrication process and therefore rendered the device inapplicable for low-cost sensing applications.

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Fig. 1. Schematic of sandwiched cantilever (with integrated thermal resistor).

The aim of the current study is to develop a low-cost, highly sensitive micro-humidity sensor using conventional MEMS-based techniques. The sensing mechanism of the proposed device is based on a composite cantilever structure comprising a platinum (Pt) resistor deposited on a silicon nitride (Si3 Ni4 ) membrane and covered by a polyimide sensing layer. The measured drift of the resistance signal caused by changes in the ambient temperature is compensated by using an RTD-type thermal resistor which integrated in the substrate of the humidity sensor. A series of experimental investigations are performed to characterize the proposed device under a range of temperature and humidity conditions in order to determine the optimal Pt resistor conguration. 2. Design Fig. 1 presents a schematic illustration of the proposed silicon-based micro-humidity sensor. As shown, the freestanding cantilever structure comprises a Pt resistor layer deposited on a Si3 Ni4 membrane. The upper layer of the composite cantilever structure comprises a polyimide sensing layer. When exposed to humidity, the polyimide layer absorbs moisture, causing it to expand. The expansion of the polyimide layer induces a deformation of the cantilever in the upward direction. This in turn changes the length of the resistor layer, prompting a measurable change in its resistance. By applying an appropriate thermal compensation, the change in the measured resistance can be used to derive the relative ambient humidity. To investigate the optimal resistor layer conguration, three different micro-sensors were fabricated with

Pt resistors of length 1500 m, 3000 m and 4450 m respectively (see Fig. 2). In every case, the width of the Pt strip was 50 m. Having patterned the Pt resistors, the cantilever structures were coated with a polyimide layer of length 4000 m, width 400 m and thickness 15 m. 3. Fabrication Fig. 3 illustrates the basic steps in the MEMS-based fabrication process used to realize the micro-humidity sensor and integrated RTD thermal detector. A low-stress Si3 Ni4 layer with a thickness of 1.0 m was deposited on the both sides of double-side polished silicon wafer at commencement of the fabrication procedure (Fig. 3(a)). A chromium (Cr) layer of 0.02 m thickness was then deposited on the upper Si3 Ni4 surface to serve as an adhesion layer for the subsequent deposition of a 1 m layer of Pt using an electron-beam evaporation process. The Pt resistors, RTD thermal resistor, and Pt inner layer of the micro-cantilever were patterned using traditional lithographic process at the same time (Fig. 3(b)). The same deposition technique was then used to coat a thin layer (0.4 m) of gold (Au) onto the two end portions of the Pt resistors to form lead electrodes (Fig. 3(c)). A traditional photoresistor spin-coating, lithographic patterning, and Si3 Ni4 layer etching was proceeded to dene a cantilever opening on the active side of the sensor wafer. The same procedures were then carried out to dene the etching mask of the KOH on the opposite side of the sensor wafer. Both cantilever opening and back-etching nitride mask were patterned in SF6 RIE plasma (Fig. 3(d)). The freestanding structure

Fig. 2. Dimensions of the patterned platinum layers (a, 1500 m case; b, 3000 m case; c, 4450 m case).

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Fig. 5. Experimental setup for sensing mechanism validation of the sensor.

the cantilever structure at a spin rate of 1000 rpm. Following the spin-coating operation, the polyimide layer was cured at 350 C for 60 min (Fig. 3(f)). Fig. 4 presents the side view scanning electron microscope (SEM) image and the top view image of the fabricated micro-humidity sensor. The deection of the cantilever beam is a result of the residual stress released during the polyimide curing process. 4. Sensing mechanism validation Initially, contraction of the polyimide layer will induce residual stresses which cause the cantilever to bend in an upward direction. During sensor operation, a temperature rise or the absorption of water molecules results in an expansion of the polyimide layer which generates an internal force in the sensing layer which can be dened ass a initial tensile force outward in the polyimide layer. Taking into consideration the initial upward bending of the cantilever, the shear stress acting on the structural layer of the cantilever is equal in magnitude to the internal tensile stress induced in the polyimide layer. The shear stress is composed of two component stresses, parallel and normal to the tangent direction of the initial cantilever outline. Since cantilever length is far larger than the distance from the geometric center of the moisture sensing layer to natural axial of the composite cantilever beam, the moment induced from the normal stress component is negligible. Therefore, the normal component of the shear stress plays a key role to deect

Fig. 3. Fabrication process of humidity sensor with integrated thermal compensation.

was then released using a KOH etching agent (40 wt%, 85 C, JT Baker). The total cantilever beam thickness was 20 m (nitride: 1 m/silicon: 19 m). In order to increase the reliability of the cantilever, a small thickness of silicon was retained to act as its understructure (Fig. 3(e)). Finally, a layer of polyimide (PW-1500, Toray Industries Inc.) was spun-coated on the upper surface of

Fig. 4. Top view (left) and side view (right) of the humidity sensor chip after the polyimide curing.

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Fig. 6. Images captured from eyepiece of microscope (left: 25 C, right: 90 C).

the cantilever beam bending upward. This results in a change in length of the Pt resistor, thus changing its resistance. In contrast, the composite cantilever beam is deected downward in case the humidity sensor is soaked in lower humidity or temperature conditions [10]. To investigate the response of the cantilever structure to changes in the ambient temperature, the humidity sensor was mounted on the upper surface of a TE-Cooler (Thermoelectric Cooler) and was then positioned under an optical microscope (see Fig. 5). The sensor was then heated to temperatures of 25 C and 90 C, respectively. CCD images were acquired of the free end region of the cantilever structure at both temperatures. The images were then processed digitally to locate the borderline of the cantilever tip. As indicated in Fig. 5, the expectation was that the borderline of the cantilever tip would move slightly toward the xed end of the cantilever beam at a higher temperature, indicating a greater displacement of the cantilever tip in the upward direction. Fig. 6 presents CCD images of the cantilever tip under temperature of 25 C (left image) and 90 C (right image), respectively. The dashed lines in the two images (i.e. L25 and L90 ) denote the digitally determined positions of the borderline of the cantilever tip. The effect of the thermal conditions on the cantilever deection is easily observed by overlaying the two images and comparing the relative positions of the two borderlines. As shown in the schematic representation in Fig. 7, the borderline associated with the higher temperature of 90 C is closer to the xed end of the cantilever structure than that associated with a temperature of 25 C. In other words, the results conrm that a greater upward deection of the cantilever beam occurs under the application of a higher ambient temperature. Based on the same force interaction, the humidity sensor after soaking in higher moisture condition will force the free end of cantilever to bend upward as well. This investigated result not only consists with the theory inference mentioned above but also is investigated with previous study [6]. In other words, the free end of the cantilever tip is displaced in the upward direction as either the temperature or the relative humidity is increased [6]. Observing the lateral section of the composite cantilever structure, it is found that the Pt inner layer of the cantilever is located above

the neutral axis of the cantilever beam. As a result, when the cantilever bends in the upward direction, a compressive force is applied to the Pt layer and its resistance therefore reduces. Consequently, the measured resistance of the humidity sensor will decrease at the conditions of higher humidity or temperature. The sensing mechanism developed in this study is eventually validated. Provided that an appropriate thermal compensation is applied, the change in the resistance can then be used to determine the ambient humidity conditions. 5. Results and discussion The fabricated micro-humidity sensors were characterized under various temperature and humidity conditions in a test chamber (THS-A, KSON Instrument Technology Co., Taiwan) using an LCR meter (4263B, Agilent Technologies) had a working frequency range of 100100 KHz. The test chamber was capable of producing a humidity range of 4085%RH and a temperature range of 0100 C. The temperature and humidity conditions were adjusted separately and were maintained to within 0.2 C and 2.0%, respectively, once the specied conditions had been achieved. 5.1. Sensitivity of temperature sensor As shown in Fig. 8, the resistance of the RTD-type thermal resistor increases linearly with the ambient temperature. The average temperature coefcient of resistance (TCR) is found to be 0.00543 C1 at a constant relative humidity of 60%RH. Applying a curve-tting technique to the experimental data, the correlation between the ambient temperature ( C) and the measured resistance (K ) is found to have the form T = 11.16R 184.06. (1)

The continuous current ow passing through the electrodes of the sensor will induce a measurement change of the sensor [11].

Fig. 7. Illustration for overlaying two captured digital images.

Fig. 8. TCR plot of embedded micro-temperature sensor (TCR = 0.00543 C1 ).

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Fig. 9. Humidity isolation of embedded micro-temperature sensor. Fig. 11. Time response curve of the humidity sensor (from 65%RH to 85%RH).

Note that the sensor operation is performed using a constant current. Furthermore, the current is deliberately restricted to a low value in order to prevent a self-heating effect. 5.2. Humidity isolation of temperature sensor The micro-temperature sensor was characterized under different humidity conditions ranging from 40 RH to 90%RH at a constant temperature of 25 C. In order to indicate the stability of microtemperature sensor on the environment moisture, a normalized index of micro-temperature sensor output was employed here. The normalized index expresses the measured resistance of microtemperature sensor at various moisture conditions comparing with the measured resistance at 40%RH condition. Fig. 9 plots the experimental results for the normalized index against the humidity level. The variation in the measured resistance over the humidity range 4090%RH is found to be of the order of just 0.4%. In other words, the thermal sensor is well isolated from humidity effects and therefore provides a reliable temperature sensing performance over the considered humidity range. 5.3. Hysteresis of humidity sensor Ideally, the micro-humidity sensor should follow the same resistance path as the humidity increases or decreases. However, in practice, most humidity sensors exhibit a small degree of hysteresis, i.e. a small discrepancy exists between the two resistance paths. Fig. 10 presents the humidity hysteresis characteristics of the current sensor. In obtaining these results, the temperature was maintained at a constant 25 C as the humidity was rst increased from 50%RH to 85%RH over a period of 30 min and then reduced to 50%RH at the same rate. From inspection, it is found that the

sensor has a hysteresis of around 2.0%RH at the two end points of the humidity range, i.e. 50%RH and 85%RH, respectively. However, the sensor will take a response delay while the sensor was stressed at the opposite action. Therefore the hysteresis of the sensor will exhibit a larger value at the initial stage as the environment returning form high moisture to low moisture. However, the sensor can express a predictable sensing response if the absorbing and diffusion conditions of moisture were stabilized in the sensing material of the humidity sensors. 5.4. Time response of humidity sensor The time responses of the humidity sensors reported in the literature vary from seconds to minutes [1,6]. Fig. 11 presents the normalized time-response curves of the three humidity sensors fabricated in the present study. A symbol normalized index was introduced to simplify the read out ratio of the humidity sensor chip with various Pt resistor lengths. The normalized index was set to be 0 for the normalized read out of humidity sensor at 65%RH. As the same way, the normalized index was set to be 1 while the read out ratio of humidity sensor was measured at 85%RH. The results indicate that the sensor with the longest Pt resistor has an improved time response. From inspection, it is found that the sensor with a resistor length of 4450 m (Fig. 2(a)) has a time response of 0.9 s when the level of relative humidity is changed suddenly from 65%RH to 85%RH. 5.5. Stability of the humidity sensor A test was performed to investigate the stability of the three sensors. The experimental result indicates that the average variation of the humidity sensors is 1.7% at 25 C and 45%RH in 12 h.

Fig. 10. Humidity hysterisis curve for case of 1500 m length.

Fig. 12. Humidity response curve under various temperatures (for 1500 m case).

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Fig. 13. Humidity response curve under various temperatures (for 3000 m case).

Fig. 15. Temperature effect on humidity sensitivity of the three lengths of humidity sensors.

5.6. Sensitivity of humidity sensor The sensitivities of the three sensors were evaluated by measuring the resistance as the humidity was increased from 40%RH to 85%RH in increments of 5%RH at constant temperatures of 40 C, 60 C and 80 C, respectively. The results obtained for the sensors with Pt resistor lengths of 1500 m, 3000 m and 4450 m are presented in Figs. 1214, respectively. All three gures indicate that the sensitivity of the sensors decreases as the temperature increases. Furthermore, comparing the results presented in the three gures, it is found that the sensor with the longest Pt resistor has the greatest sensitivity. The humidity sensors with various resistor lengths hold their different upper detection limits of the moisture level. According to the EulerBernoulli beam equation [12], the deected displacement of the cantilever is proportional to the square of cantilever length. The deection displacement of the cantilever is proportional to the total length deformation of the cantilever (i.e., resistance change of the Pt resistor). Therefore, the humidity sensor with a shorter resistor length holds faster read-out saturation than that with a longer resistor length. As shown in Fig. 12, the humidity sensor with a resistor length of 1500 m yields an upper detection limitation of 70%RH. However, the humidity sensor with a resistor length of 4450 m is veried to be functionally work through humidity condition of 4085%RH. 5.7. Effect of ambient temperature on humidity sensitivity Fig. 15 illustrates the relationship between the humidity sensitivity and the ambient temperature for each of the three humidity sensors. As displayed in Fig. 15, the humidity sensor with longer Pt strip length yields an improved response sensitivity. Applying a curve-tting technique, it is found that the sensitivities of the three sensors decrease with an increasing temperature in accordance

with the following 2nd order expressions: S = 0.0002T 2 0.06T + 5.2962(Pt length of 4450 m) S = 0.0003T 2 0.0554T + 3.5305(Pt length of 3000 m) S = 0.00002T 2 0.0155T + 1.8895(Pt length of 1500 m) (2)

where S is the sensitivity (K /%RH) and T is the ambient temperature ( C). Eq. (2) provides the means to compensate for the drift of the measurement results caused by variations in the ambient temperature. 5.8. Normalization of temperature and humidity sensors By combining Eqs. (1) and (2), it can be shown that RH = R (Pt length of 4450 m) (0.0249R2 1.4916R + 23.116) R (3) (Pt length of 3000 m) RH = (0.0394R2 1.85R + 23.891) R RH = K (Pt length of 1500 m) (0.00249R2 0.2552R + 5.4201)

where RH is the relative humidity change (%RH), R is the measured resistance change (K ) of the moisture sensor and R is the measured resistance (K ) of the micro-temperature sensor. Substituting both measured resistances of micro-temperature sensor and humidity sensor into Eq. (3) yields a thermally compensated value of the relative humidity. Fig. 16 illustrates the variation of the thermally compensated resistance measurement with the relative humidity for the humidity sensor with a Pt resistor of length 4450 m at ambient temperatures of 40 C, 60 C and 80 C. It is observed that a good agreement is obtained among three different temperatures. Furthermore, it is apparent that the calibrated resistance signal varies linearly with the humidity.

Fig. 14. Humidity response curve under various temperatures (for 4550 m case).

Fig. 16. Relationship between measured resistance after temperature compensation and relative humidity for 4450 m case.

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L.-T. Chen et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 147 (2008) 522528 [11] P. Frjes, A. Kovcs, Cs Dcs, M. dm, B. Mller, U. Mesxheder, Porous siliconbased humidity sensor with interdigital electrodes and internal heaters, Sens. Actuators B 95 (2003) 140144. [12] Beer, Johnston, Mechanics of Materials, McGraw Hill, New York, 1987.

6. Conclusion This study has utilized conventional MEMS techniques to fabricate a low-cost micro-humidity sensor incorporating a composite cantilever structure and an integrated thermal compensation mechanism. The experimental results have shown that the sensor has a time response of 0.9 s when the relative humidity is changed suddenly from 65%RH to 85%RH. Furthermore, it has been shown that the humidity sensitivity of the sensor decreases as the temperature increases, but improves as the length of the Pt resistor embedded in the cantilever structure is increased. Finally, the results have shown that the temperature-calibrated resistance signal generated by the sensor varies linearly with the ambient humidity, and therefore enables a reliable humidity sensing operation. The future investigations will address both the feasibility of the composite sensing structure and the issue of the reproducibility presented in the current study to the sensing of ultra-low humidity conditions of 40%RH or lower. References
[1] K.I. Arshak, K. Twomey, Investigation into a novel humidity sensor operating at room temperature, Microelectron. J. 33 (2002) 213220. [2] Kang Uksong, D. Wise Kensall, A high-speed capacitive humidity sensor with on-chip thermal reset, IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 47 (2000) 702710. [3] Z.M. Rittersma, Recent achievements in miniaturized humidity sensorsa review of transduction technologies, Sens. Actuator A 96 (2002) 196 210. [4] Pi-Guey Su, Chao-Jen Ho, Yi-Lu Sun, I-Cherng Chen, A micromachined resistivetype humidity sensor with a composite material as sensitive lm, Sens. Actuators B 113 (2006) 837842. [5] R.K. Nahar, Study of the performance degradation of thin lm aluminum oxide sensors at high humidity, Sens. Actuators B 63 (2000) 4954. [6] W. Qu, W. Wlodarski, J.U. Meyer, Comparative study on micromorphology and humidity sensitive properties of thin-lm and thick-lm humidity sensors based on semiconducting MnWO4 , Sens. Actuators B 64 (2000) 7682. [7] P.G. Su, I.C. Chen, R.J. Wu, Use of poly (2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonate) modied with tetraethyl orthosilicate as sensing material for measurement of humidity, Anal. Chim. Acta 449 (2001) 103109. [8] P.R. Story, D.W. Galipeau, R.D. Mileham, A study of low-cost sensors for measuring low relative humidity, Sens. Actuators B 2425 (1995) 681685. [9] S. Chatzandroulis, A. Tserepi, D. Goustouridis, P. Normand, D. Tsoukalas, Fabrication of single Si cantilevers using a dry release process and application in a capacitive-type humidity sensor, Microelectron. Eng. 6162 (2002) 955 961. [10] Chin-Yen Lee, Gwo-Bin Lee, Micromachime-based humidity sensors with integrated temperature sensor for signal drift compensation, J. Micromech. Microeng. (2003) 620627.

Biographies
Lung-Tai Chen received the MS degree in mechanical engineering from Feng-Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC in 1994 and is currently pursuing his PhD degree in optoelectronic engineering from National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC. Since 2001, he worked at Industrial Technology Research Institute, Tainan, Taiwan and has being involved in MEMS packaging technology. His research interests are optoelectronic modules and MEMS packaging technologies. He holds ve U.S. patents and has published 14 conference papers. He is a member of IMAPS. Chia-Yen Lee received his BS and MS degrees in department of mechanical engineering from National Taiwan University, Taiwan in 1991 and 1993, respectively. He received his PhD degree in department of engineering science from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan in 2004. Before he studied for his PhD degree, he worked as an engineer, an assistant manager, and a section head in TECO, York and DiCon for 3, 1 and 2 years, respectively. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at Da-Yeh University (DYU), Taiwan. His research interests lie on micro-sensors and -actuators. Wood-Hi Cheng (M95SM00) was born in Changhua, Taiwan, ROC, on June 3, 1944. He received the PhD degree in physics from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, in 1978. From 1978 to 1980, he was a research associate at Telecommunication Laboratories, Taiwan. From 1980 to 1984, he was a research engineer at General Optronics, Edison, NJ. From 1984 to 1991, he was a principal design engineer at Rockwell International, Newbury Park, CA. From 1991 to 1994, he was an optoelectronic packaging manager at Tacan Corporation, Carlsbad, CA. He is now a professor at the Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering and Director of Southern Taiwan Opto-Electronic Center of Excellence, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaoshiung, Taiwan, ROC. His research and development activities have been focused on the design and fabrication of highspeed semiconductor lasers for lightwave communications, highly efcient light coupling from lasers into bers, ber couplers, characterization of IIIV semiconductors materials, and optoelectronic packaging. His current research interests are the design, fabrication, and nite-element-method analysis for laser module packaging, high-speed laser module packaging for digital lightwave systems, fabrication of high density WDM components, and novel materials for electromagnetic shielding. He served as a consultant for Chunghwa Telecom Laboratories, Opto-Electronics and System Laboratories, and Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, all from Taiwan. Dr. Cheng is a senior member of IEEE, a fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), and the Photonics Society of Chinese-Americans. He served as a Chair for the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), Taipei Chapter during 1999000, and serves as a Chair for the OSA, Taipei Chapter during 2006007.