Intrinsic low hysteresis touch mode capacitive pressure sensor

Abstract

Hysteresis has always been one of the main concerns when fabricating touch mode capacitive pressure sensors (TMCPS). This phenomenon can be fought at two different levels: during fabrication or after fabrication with the aid of a dedicated signal conditioning circuit. We will describe a microfabrication step that can be introduced in order to reduce drastically the hysteresis of this type of sensors without compromising their sensitivity. Medium-high range (0 to 10 bar absolute pressure) TMCPS with a capacitive signal span of over 100pF and less than 1 % hysteresis in the entire pressure range have been obtained. Temperature characterization was performed and showed a decrease in capacitance as the temperature increases. The maximum output variation, relative to room temperature, has been found to be 0.15 %/°C at 80 °C, while an almost constant variation of 0.044 %/°C is achieved if working in the touch mode region.