Temperature measurement performance of silicon piezoresistive MEMS pressure sensors for industrial applications

Abstract

Temperature and pressure are the most common parameters to be measured and monitored not only in industrial processes but in many other fields from vehicles and healthcare to household appliances. Silicon microelectromechanical (MEMS) piezoresistive pressure sensors are the first and the most successful MEMS sensors, offering high sensitivity, solid-state reliability and small dimensions at a low cost achieved by mass production. The inherent temperature dependence of the output signal of such sensors adversely affects their pressure measurement performance, necessitating the use of correction methods in a majority of cases. However, the same effect can be utilized for temperature measurement, thus enabling new sensor applications. In this paper we perform characterization of MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensors for temperature measurement, propose a sensor correction method, and demonstrate that the measurement error as low as ± 0.3 °C can be achieved.