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Effect of heater geometry on the high temperature distribution on a MEMS

micro-hotplate

Article · July 2011

DOI: 10.1109/ASQED.2011.6111709

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 Effect of Heater Geometry on the High Temperature Distribution on a MEMS
Micro-hotplate
O. Sidek1, M. Z. Ishak1, M. A. Khalid1, M. Z. Abu Bakar2 and M. A. Miskam1
1
Collaborative Microelectronic Design Excellence Centre
2
School of Chemical Engineering
Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
E-mail: othman@cedec.usm.my, m.zulfikar@cedec.usm.my, m.afif@cedec.usm.my,
chmohdz@eng.usm.my and azman@cedec.usm.my

Extensive efforts have been made toward maintaining

Abstract temperature uniformity across and along the micro-
Temperature uniformity on a micro-hotplate is important
hotplates. For instance, the geometry of micro-heaters has
for gas sensor sensitivity, linearity, and resolution. There are
been investigated thoroughly. In this current study, four
several ways to create a uniform temperature distribution on
platinum heaters with different geometries are simulated
a micro-hotplate. In this paper, the modification of micro-
using CoventorWare software. The heater geometry that
heater geometry is the method used. Four different heater
produces the most uniform temperature distribution is
geometries are simulated using ConvetorWare software to
determined. The voltage and current distribution of the
determine which geometry can give the most uniform
various heater geometries are also presented.
temperature distribution. The simulations show that the
heater geometry which combines parallel and meander 2. Micro-heater Design
shapes results in the most uniform heat distribution. The Four different heaters are simulated using CoventorWare
electrical potential and current distributions of the four MemMech Analyzer to evaluate the effect of heater
different micro-heater geometries are also evaluated. geometry on the temperature distribution on a micro-
hotplate. Figure 1 shows the geometry of the heaters used in
Keywords the present study. Type 1 heater is a combination of the
Micro-hotplate, micro-heater, gas sensor, finite element
parallel and meander geometries, whereas Type 2 heater has
analysis, heat distribution, MEMS
a parallel geometry [5]. Type 3 and Type 4 heaters have
1. Introduction meander and double meander shapes, respectively [2, 6].
Nowadays, the micro-hotplate is widely used in gas
sensors and various micro-system applications. The use of
the micro-hotplate in gas sensor design can increase the
dynamic response and significantly reduce the power
consumption of the sensor due to the small thermal mass of
the micro-hotplate [1]. Its use in gas sensors can also reduce
manufacturing process complexity [2] and the costs
involved in mass production substantially [3].
To meet the needs of modern and portable electronic
system applications, gas sensors are expected to have high
sensitivity, high resolution, low power consumption and low
cost [4]. The sensitivity and resolution of gas sensors that
use a micro-hotplate are dependent on the temperature and
temperature homogeneity/uniformity of the sensitive device Figure 1: Micro-heater geometries
area [5]. On the other hand, the selectivity and time response
of these sensors are dependent on the temperature of the Table 1 shows the dimensions of the heaters. Their
micro-hotplate. Therefore, gas sensors should have low overall width and length are 480 µm. The width of the
power consumption and should control effectively the heating element (the black line), which is made of platinum,
heating temperature. That is, a high temperature should be is 30 µm. Platinum is used as heating element due to its high
maintained on the entire gas sensing region in order to meet melting point (~1768 °C), high resistance to oxidation,
current and future electronic system requirements [3]. capability to operate within 500 to 600 °C without any
Temperature uniformity on a micro-hotplate can be change in structure, capability to control a large current
achieved though several methods such as using a thicker density, stable temperature coefficient of resistance,
silicon island underneath the micro-hotplate membrane [5], outstanding linearity, and good chemical and thermal
placing a polysilicon plate under the micro-hotplate durability [3]. Further, a micro-heater made of platinum is
membrane [6], placing metal or a metalloid compound on more robust compared with the common polysilicon micro-
top of the heater, and using various geometries on the heater when the devices operate at a relatively high
dielectric membrane and heater design [7]. temperature. The major drawback of the polysilicon-based

978-1-4577-0144-3/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE 100 3rd Asia Symposium on Quality Electronic Design
heater is its long-term drift of electrical resistance which
occurs at a high temperature [8, 9].
Table 1: Micro-heaters dimensions
Geometry Dimension
Figure 2 shows the micro-hotplates layers and Figure 3
shows the fabrication process flow. The fabrication process
flow simulates the actual foundry process and has been
defined in CoventorWare Process Editor.

Type 1

Type 2

Figure 2: Micro-hotplate layers

The micro-hotplate was designed on a 300 µm-thick with
1100×1100 µm area of a type-100 silicon substrate. The first
fabrication process step involves the deposition of a 0.3 µm-
thick silicon nitride (Si3N4) layer onto the silicon substrate
surface using the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition
process. The Si3N4 layer acts as a membrane to support the
micro-hotplate structure. Then the Si3N4 layer is etched
using the wet etching method to form a base structure for the
micro-hotplate. In this etching process, phosphoric acid is
Type 3 used as etchant.
A 0.5 µm-thick silicon oxide (SiO2) layer is then
deposited onto the Si3N4 membrane and is etched using the
wet etching method to have a shape as the micro-hotplate.
The SiO2 layer is used to insulate the Si3N4 membrane and
the heating element. After that a 0.2 µm platinum layer
which is the heating element is deposited onto the SiO2 layer
using the sputtering method. This platinum layer is patterned
to form various micro-heater shapes as shown in Figure 1.
A 0.8 µm-thick SiO2 and a 0.2 µm-thick silica carbide
(SiC) layers are deposited onto the patterned platinum layer
to ensure that the heat from the platinum heating element is
distributed uniformly across and along the micro-hotplate;
Type 4
this is important for sensor sensitivity. These two layers are
then was etched using the reactive-ion etching method to
have a shape as the micro-hotplate. Another 0.5 µm-thick
SiO2 insulating layer is deposited onto the SiC layer to
insulate it from any electrical contact.
The final step is the creation of a cavity at the back side
of the device (silicon substrate) to isolate the Si3N4
membrane from the silicon substrate. The purpose is to
reduce the heat dissipation from the heater to the Si
substrate. Anisotropic wet etching using KOH was used in
this process.
3. Micro-heater Fabrication Process
 Figure 3: Micro-hotplate fabrication process

Table 2 shows the properties of the materials used for the Figure 4 shows the 3-D model of the micro-hotplate
micro-hotplate design [6]. These material properties values (Type 1) generated from the thickness and etches profile
which are used for the fabrication and simulation process information provided by the Process Editor (Figure 3).
were defined and stored in the ConvetorWare Material
Properties Database. Simulation results are dependent to the 4. Results and Discussions
properties of the material that make up the micro-hotplate. Finite element analysis was performed on all four micro-
hotplates using the ConventorWare MemMech Analyzer.
The micro-heaters were subjected to 1 volt potential. When
Table 2: Material properties of layers for micro-hotplate
subjected to electrical potential, the micro-heater
structure
temperature increases because it converts electrical energy
Material Si Si3N4 SiO2 Pt SiC
to heat.
Young’s
Modulus 1.5e+5 2.9e+5 0.7e+5 1.68e+5 4.1e+5 Figure 5 shows the electrical potential distribution on the
(Mpa) Type 1 heater when subjected to 1 volt potential difference.
Poisson’s 0.17 0.27 0.2 0.38 0.14 The red pad stack is connected to +1 volt, whereas the other
Ratio pad stack is connected to the ground. The electrical potential
Density 2.33e-15 2.9e-15 2.27e-15 2.14e-14 3.1e-15 decreases from the source to the ground because some of the
(kg/µm3) electrical energy is converted to heat due to the resistance of
Thermal the heating element. The electrical potential distribution for
Conductivity 150e+6 22e+6 1.4e+16 72e+6 12e+7
the other three micro-heaters is the same as in Figure 5
(pW/µm.K)
Dielectric 1.19e+1 8.0 3.9 - 10.8
which is decreasing from the voltage source pad stack to the
Constant ground pad stack.
Specific Heat 7.12e+14 17.0e+13 1.0e+15 1.33e+14 15e+13
(pJ/Kg.K)
Electrical
Conductivity - - - 9.6e+12 1e+6
(ps/µm)
Melting Point 1414 1480 1600 1768 2730
(°C)

Figure 4: 3-D model of micro-hotplate (Type 1) Figure 5: Electrical potential distribution

 Figure 6 (a, b, c and d) shows the current density for
each micro-heaters. The current density is generally uniform
except for that for the Type 1 micro-heater. For the Type 1
micro-heater, the current density is not uniform at the
meandering structure. The maximum current density that
flows through Types 1, 2, 3, and 4 micro-heaters is 2.5e9,
2.8e9, 1.6e9, and 1.8e9 pA/µm2 respectively
Figure 6.a: Current density of Type 1 heater
Figure 6.b: Current density of Type 2 heater
Figure 6.c: Current density of Type 3 heater
Figure 6.d: Current density of Type 4 heater
Figure 7 (a, b, c and d) shows the temperature
distribution on the micro-hotplates. It can be shown that
temperature distribution is dependent to the micro-heater
geometry. Type 1 heater which has combination geometry
of parallel and meander shapes produces the most uniform
temperature distribution. Type 2 heater which has a parallel
geometry also produces a significantly uniform temperature
distribution but a much lower temperature which seem not
sufficient to heat the whole micro-hotplate surface.
Figure 7.a: Temperature distribution (Type 1 micro-heater)
Figure 7.b: Temperature distribution (Type 2 micro-heater)

Figure 7.c: Temperature distribution (Type 3 micro-heater)
Figure 6.d: Temperature distribution (Type 4 micro-heater)
5. Conclusion
The design, modeling, and simulation of various
geometries of micro-heaters for micro-hotplates and gas
sensor applications are presented. The temperature
uniformity of micro-heaters is found to be dependent on
their geometries. The results shows that the combination of
the parallel and meander shapes produces the most uniform
heat distribution compared with the other heater shapes. The
improvement in heat uniformity on the micro-hotplate
surface helps enhance the performance of gas sensors based
on micro-hotplates and other MEMS applications that utilize
micro-hotplates.
6. Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the
Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Ministry of Higher
Education, Malaysia, 203/CEDEC/6071173; USM Research
University Grant, 1001/PELECT/814036 and
1001/PJKIMIA/814108; and USM Short-Term Grant,
304/CEDEC/6035295.
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