New perspectives for pressure and force sensors thin films combining high gauge factor and low TCR

Guenter Schultes; Ralf Koppert; Dirk Goettel; Olivia Freitag-Weber; Anne C. Probst; Ulf Werner

doi:10.1117/12.820496

18 May 2009 New perspectives for pressure and force sensors thin films combining high gauge factor and low TCR

Guenter Schultes, Ralf Koppert, Dirk Goettel, Olivia Freitag-Weber, Anne C. Probst, Ulf Werner

Proceedings Volume 7362, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS IV; 73620W (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.820496
Event: SPIE Europe Microtechnologies for the New Millennium, 2009, Dresden, Germany

Abstract

Metal containing carbon thin films can be prepared to exhibit piezoresistive properties with a high sensitivity to mechanical strain and with a temperature independent resistance. This unique combination of properties predisposes these films to be used in sensors for pressure, force, weight and torque. For the case of nickel containing carbon films (often termed as Ni containing hydrogenated amorphous carbon, shortly Ni:a-C:H) we are able to demonstrate a strain sensitivity (gauge factor) of approx. 20 together with a temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) below ±50 ppm/K in the wide temperature range of 100 K to 400 K. The sensitivity of our films is thus enhanced by a factor of 10 compared with standard metallic thin films in today's sensors. The films consist of crystalline nanoclusters of nickel with a diameter of 10 - 20 nm which are encapsulated by only few atomic layers of graphene (or turbostratic graphite) as revealed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These carbon encapsulated clusters are embedded in a matrix of carbon. The new type of films are named nanoNi@C i.e. nano-Nickel clusters encapsulated by carbon.

Citation Download Citation

Guenter Schultes, Ralf Koppert, Dirk Goettel, Olivia Freitag-Weber, Anne C. Probst, and Ulf Werner "New perspectives for pressure and force sensors thin films combining high gauge factor and low TCR", Proc. SPIE 7362, Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS IV, 73620W (18 May 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.820496

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