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Manufacturing Silicon-Nanowire Based Piezoresistive Force Sensors with Top-Down Stepwise Controllable Etching Process

  • Northwestern Polytechnical University Xian

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

Abstract

Reported giant piezoresistive effect of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) motivates research of SiNWs-based devices, particularly for inertial and force sensors, whose fabrication however remains a challenge. This paper reports a controllable manufacturing process to fabricate a force sensor utilizing <600 nm × 600 nm SiNWs with a GF of 35 as the sensing element while 10 μ m thick comb fingers as the actuator and force generator. Different from the previous bottom-up process using epitaxial growth, this work proposes a straightforward top-down process with stepwise controllable etching and only ultraviolet lithography to integrate SiNWs of which minimum diameter is 100nm with the 10 μ m thick actuator. A fabricated force sensor demonstrates a sensitivity of 508 p± μ N and linearity of ± 1.4%.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2026 IEEE 39th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2026
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1159-1162
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9798331572518
DOIs
StatePublished - 2026
Event39th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2026 - Salzburg, Austria
Duration: 25 Jan 202629 Jan 2026

Publication series

NameProceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
ISSN (Print)1084-6999

Conference

Conference39th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2026
Country/TerritoryAustria
CitySalzburg
Period25/01/2629/01/26

Keywords

  • Silicon nanowire
  • force sensor
  • giant piezoresistive effect
  • monolithic manufacturing

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