Self-Calibrated Humidity Sensor in CMOS without Post-Processing 英文参考文献.docVIP

Sensors 2012, 12, 226-232; doi:10.3390/s120100226 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Self-Calibrated Humidity Sensor in CMOS without Post-Processing Oleg Nizhnik 1,*, Kohei Higuchi 1 and Kazusuke Maenaka 2 1 Maenaka Human-sensing Fusion Project, 8111, Shosha 2167, Himeji-shi, Hyogo-ken, Japan; E-Mail: k-higuchi@eratokm.jp 2 Hyogo Prefectural University, 8111, Shosha 2167, Himeji-shi, Hyogo-ken, Japan; E-Mail: maenaka@eng.u-hyogo.ac.jp * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: oleg@eratokm.jp. Received: 30 November 2011; in revised form: 22 December 2011 / Accepted: 27 December 2011 / Published: 27 December 2011 Abstract: A 1.1 μW power dissipation, voltage-output humidity sensor with 10% relative humidity accuracy was developed in the LFoundry 0.15 μm CMOS technology without post-processing. The sensor consists of a woven lateral array of electrodes implemented in CMOS top metal, a humidity-sensitive layer of Intervia Photodielectric 8023D-10, a CMOS capacitance to voltage converter, and the self-calibration circuitry. Keywords: capacitive sensors; microsensors; humidity measurement; CMOS integrated circuits 1. Introduction The history of humidity sensor integration with CMOS is at least 23 years old [1]. After nearly a quarter of a century of development, three main sensing designs have emerged. Besides the water-absorbing film-based solution in [1], a design based on the thermal conductivity difference between air and water vapor was also proposed in [2]. For very precise systems, dew point can be also measured with the hybrid CMOS/MEMS chip [3]. For mass-produced humidity sensors, like those found in sensor networks [4], low power dissipation and low price is obligatory. To reduce price, the amount of CMOS post-processing and packaging should be kept to a minimum. Existing proposals for CMOS-based sensors require a porous metal on the top layer [1], or complex