SNR improvement in MEMS electrothermal displacement sensors

Ali Mohammadi, Seyed O Reza Moheimani, Mehmet Yuce

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Electrothermal displacement sensors are doped silicon resistors used for nanopositioning purposes. The displacement precision of the nanopositioners is strongly dependent on the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the sensors. The sensitivity of the electrothermal sensor is proportional to the temperature of the sensor. However, higher temperature increases the thermal noise of the device. We propose new methods both in the device and the readout circuit to improve the SNR. The design of a multiple sensor architecture is reported in this work. Through experiments we show that with averaging multiple sensor signals the overall SNR is improved by the number of averaged sensor outputs. The experiments are carried out on SOI (Silicon on Insulator) MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) nanopositioners. By combining three sensor outputs, we achieved a 4 dB enhancement in SNR. Furthermore, the sensitivity of commonly used Wheatstone bridge and transimpedance amplifier (TA) readout circuits are investigated. We show analytically and experimentally that TA circuit offers four times higher sensitivity.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2014 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2014)
EditorsStephane Regnier
Place of PublicationNew York NY USA
PublisherIEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages566 - 569
Number of pages4
ISBN (Print)9781479957378
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014
EventIEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics 2014 - Besancon, France
Duration: 8 Jul 201411 Jul 2014
Conference number: 13th
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6869121 (Proceedings)

Conference

ConferenceIEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics 2014
Abbreviated titleAIM 2014
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityBesancon
Period8/07/1411/07/14
Internet address

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