4D2.
04
A High Temperature Pressure Sensor With
&Sic Piezoresistors On SO1 Substrates
Rend Ziermann, Jochen von Berg, Walter Reichert, and Ernst Obermeier,
Martin Eickhoff" and Gerhard Krotz"
Technical University of Berlin, Microsensor and Actuator Technology Center, Germany
"Daimler Benz AG, Munchen, Germany
SUMMARY
This paper reports about the first piezoresistive
pressure sensor for high operating temperatures
using single crystalline, n-type I3-Sic
piezoresistors on Silicon On Insulator (SOI)
substrates. The new Silicon Carbide On Insulator
(SiCOI) layer structure prevents a leakage current
flow through the substrate at high temperatures up
to 723 K. The sensor was tested in the temperature
range between room temperature and 573 K. The
sensitivity of the device at room temperature is
approximately 20.2 pVNkPa. This corresponds to
a longitudinal gauge factor of -32 in the [loo]-
direction. The Temperature Coefficient of
Sensitivity (TCS) is -0.16 %K-' at 573 K.
Keywords: Silicon Carbide, Pressure Sensor
INTRODUCTION
Cubic silicon carbide films, heteroepitaxially
grown on silicon, gives a material system that
combines the high temperature capabilities of S i c
[ 11 with the micromachining possibilities of Si.
However, next to its advantages the SiC/Si system
shows a major problem: At temperatures higher
than approximately 500 K the SiC/Si
heterojunction starts leaking, which results in a
current flow through the Si substrate. One
approach to get rid of this problem is the
deposition of thin B-Sic films on SO1 substrates.
By fabricating the transducer elements, in this case
the piezoresistors, from 13-Sic and doing the
micromachining with Si, micromechanical devices
such as the piezoresistive pressure sensor for high
operating temperatures presented in this work, can
be produced. The advantage of this device
compared to a pressure sensor made of bulk silicon
carbide [2] is that standard silicon bulk
micromachining instead of the problematic and not
yet sophisticated bulk micromachining technology
of S i c can be used.
In this work single crystalline n-type &Sic,
which gives a higher gauge factor than
polycrystalline S i c [3], [4], was deposited on
0-7803-3829-4/97/$10.00 0 1997 IEEE
commercially available SIMOX (Separation by
IMplanted Oxygen) wafers and UNIBOND
substrates fabricated by SOlTEC, France, using
the Smart-Cut process. The electrical properties of
this Sic01 system were characterized in [ 5 ] and
[6], and the gauge factor (GF) of single crystal 13-
S i c films was analyzed in [7]in order to determine
the applicability of the new material combination
for pressure sensors. Based on these results a new
piezoresistive Sic01 pressure sensor has been
developed using n-type S-SiC piezoresistors. A
circular diaphragm design with a center boss is
used. The sensor design was optimized by Finite
Element Analysis (FEA). The technological
fabrication process for the pressure sensor and the
characterization of the sensor over a wide
temperature range will be presented in this paper.
SiCOI MATERIAL SYSTEM
Single crystalline, 2 pm thick, n-type S-SIC
films were deposited by CREE Inc., USA, on
<lOO>-oriented SIMOX and UNIBOND
substrates. The specifications of the SO1 substrates
are given in Table 1.
Table I : Specifications of the SOI substrates
I SIMOX, UNIBOND
I
I Resistivity I 10-20 Qcm I
II Silicon
thickness
I
- 200 nm
I
IBOX* thickness
Wafer thickness
370 - 400 nm
original: 525 pm
for sensors thinned to 300 um I
*) Buried Oxide
Electrical Characterization
For the electrical characterization of the Sic01
system resistivity and Hall measurements using
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4D2.04
van der Pauw structures (500 x 500 pm2) were
carried out. Ohmic contacts were made by
sputtering of a TiWN layer (230 nm thick) and an
Au layer (200 nm thick) on top of the B-Sic film.
The contacts were annealed for 60 min at
T = 773 K in a nitrogen atmosphere. The contact
resistivity determined at room temperature is
approximately 10-5 Qcm2. The resistivity,
mobility, and free carrier concentration at room
temperature are listed in Table 2.
Table 2: Electrical properties of the SiCOI systems
at room temperature.
SiC/SIMOX SiCLJNIBOND
Resistivity 1.2. Qcm 2.2. Qcm
2.9.10"cm"
concentration
In order to characterize a piezoresistive
sensing element that will be used over a wide
temperature range, it is important to know its
variation in resistivity with temperature.
Measurements of the resistivity were carried out
between T = 80 K and T = 723 K. Figure 1 shows
the resistivity vs. temperature characteristics of the
SiC/Si and the SiCOI systems.
- circular diaphragm with a center boss and four
6 bridge. Because the longitudinal gauge factor for
cr
Q
10-2:
A SiCIUNIBOND sample
i0-3-
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 7 0 0 800
Temperature [K]
-
Figure 1: Resistivity vs. temperature characteris-
tics of the SiC/Si and the SiCOI systems.
The Hall measurements showed that at low
temperatures the resistivity of the S i c film
decreases due to an increase in mobility at a
constant carrier concentration. From room
temperature up to about T = 500 K both, the
carrier concentration and the mobility of the I3-Sic
layer are nearly constant resulting in a constant
resistivity (Figure 1). For the B-SiC/Si system at
temperatures T > 500 K the resistivity decreases
rapidly due to the leaking B-SiC/Si heterojunction
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resulting in a current flow through the Si substrate.
This effect makes the TJ-SiC/Si system not useful
for high temperature applications. For the
SiCOI systems the B-SIC film is insulated from the
Si substrate by an Si02 layer and the substrate
effect can be reduced or even abolished. However,
in earlier work [ 5 ] damage in the buried oxide
layer of the SIMOX substrate, caused by the high
deposition temperature (approx. 1623 K) of the
p-Sic film, was observed. This damage and the Si
inclusions present in the buried oxide of the
SIMOX wafers caused large area samples
( 5 x 5 mm2) to fail at temperatures above 600 K.
For small samples (e.g., 500 x 500 pm2) that are
large enough to be used as piezoresistors, good
insulating properties up to 723 K were observed
(Figure 1).
A general improvement is achieved if
UNIBOND material instead of SIMOX is used.
The UNIBOND wafers have a better quality, high
density, thermal oxide and therefore the damage
caused to the oxide during B-SIC deposition is less
fatal for the device. Using this SiCOI system good
insulating behavior at high temperatures even
across large area substrates was achieved. Pressure
sensors made from both SiCOI materials were
fabricated and characterized.
PRESSURE SENSOR
Device Structure
The fabricated sensor chip consists of a
piezoresistors that are connected in a Wheatstone
n-type B-Sic is much larger than the transverse GF
[3], [7], all four piezoresistors are arranged in such
a way on the diaphragm, that two of the four
piezoresistors are under tensile and two under
compressive longitudinal strain when the
diaphragm is deflected.
The sensor chip has an area of 4 mm x 4 mm.
The outer diameter of the diaphragm is 3.3 mm
and the diameter of the center boss is 1.2 mm. The
thickness of the diaphragm is 100 pm.
The strain distribution for this sensor design
was determined by E A . Figure 2 shows the
calculated radial strain distribution of the dia-
phragm for a pressure of 500 kPa applied from the
backside. The maxima of strain (about k 3.10-4)are
obtained near the outer and near the inner edge of
the diaphragm (Figure 2).
The piezoresistors are placed at the locations
of maximal strain and oriented in the [ 1001-crystal
direction because this is the direction of the largest
1412

gauge factor for n-type 0-Sic [3], [7]. The size of
the piezoresistors is 10 pm x 150 pm.
3.0~10-4-
2.0~10-4-
1 .ox10-4-
0.0 4
-I -
.OXI 0.4
-2.0~10.4-
-3.Ox10-4-
-2000 -1500 -1000 -500 0 500 1000
Distance [pm]
Figure 2: Calculated radial strain distribution for
an applied pressure of 500 kPa using
FEA. The maxima are obtained at the
outer and the inner edge of the
diaphragm. The thickness of the
diaphragm is 100 pm.
Device Fabrication
The Sic01 substrates were cleaned using the
"RCA" procedure. Then the 0-Sic film was
patterned to fabricate the piezoresistors by R E in
an SFd02 plasma. The etching parameters
(P = 200 W, p = 50 mTorr, SF6flow rate = 4 sccm,
O2 flow rate = 16 sccm) were chosen in order to
obtain a high B-SiC/Si etch rate ratio. An A1 layer
was used as an etch mask. To achieve a smooth
and shiny etching surface a graphite electrode,
instead of the standard A1 electrode, was used. The
time controlled etching process was stopped as the
silicon substrate was reached. During oxidation in
a dry oxygen ambient at 1473 K for 2 hours an
insulating capping oxide layer was grown. The
thicknesses of the oxide layers over the silicon
bulk substrate and the 0-Sic piezoresistors are
290 nm and 170 nm, respectively. After opening
4D2.04
the contact windows the metallization system was
deposited as described above, and structured by
wet chemical etching in a potassium iodate
solution for Au and in H202for TiWN. Then the
diaphragm was fabricated by R E in an SFd02
plasma. In Figure 3 is shown a photgraph of the
fabricated sensor chip.
1500 2000
Figure 3: Photograph of the fabrikted sensor
chip.
Device Characterization
For characterization the pressure sensor chip
was placed in a vacuum chamber and mechanically
mounted to the chuck. Platinum tipped needles
were used to establish electrical contact to the pads
of the sensor. The relative pressure applied from
the back side to the sensor chip ranged between
Oand 500kPa. The test was carried out in the
temperature range between room temperature and
573 K. The measurements were performed in the
constant voltage mode with a supply voltage of
5 v,,
Figure 4 shows the output versus pressure for
room temperature. At room temperature the
sensitivities of the SiC/SlMOX and the
SiC/UNIBOND sensor are 20.2 pVNkPa and
18.3 yVNkPa, respectively. The longitudinal GF,
calculated from strain and sensor sensitivity, is
about -32, which is in good agreement with the
results reported by Shor [3].
In Figure 5 the sensitivity of the SiC/SIMOX
sensor is plotted versus the temperature. The
sensitivity decreases with temperature as a result
of a decreasing GF. The TCS of this device is
-0.16 %K-' at 573 K.
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4Di
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

50 - A The authors would like to thank T. Ziemann

A D for the construction of the pressure system used to
40 - A n
test the sensors. This work is financially supported
A n
30 - A' by the German Ministry of Education and
A n Research (BMBF) under contract number 414-
20 - A
4013-16 SV 023.
A SiC/SIMOX sensor
10- e SiC/UNIBOND sensor
. e REFERENCES
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[1] G. Krotz, Ch. Wagner, W. Legner, H. Moller, and
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and the SiC/UNIBOND sensor at room [2] R.S. Okojie, A.A. Ned, A.D. Kurtz and W.N. Carr,
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[3] J. Shor, D. Goldstein and A.D. Kurtz, IEEE Trans.
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[6] W. Reichert, E. Obermeier, and J. Stoemenos, to be
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Figure 5: Sensitivity of the SiC/SIMOX sensor in
the temperature range between room
temperature and 573 K.

CONCLUSIONS

The successful fabrication and testing of a high

temperature pressure sensor with B-SIC
piezoresistors on SO1 substrates was demonstrated.
The SiC/SIMOX sensor was tested up to 573 K
and the sensor made of the SiC/UNIBOND has
been characterized at room temperature. The
characterization at higher temperatures, in order to
find the maximal possible operating temperature,
is in progress. Judging from the electrical
characterization of the SiC/SOI material systems
(Figure 1) and the rather small temperature
dependence of the gauge factor [3], a good
performance of the sensors for operating
temperatures up to 723 K, or even higher, can be
expected. Therefore, not the electrical behavior of
the S i c 0 1 system but plastic deformation of the Si
might set the upper limit for the operating
temperature.
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