Thermal Analysis And Design Of A Micro-hotplate For Integrated Gas Sensor Applications

The application of commercial Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering (MCAE) software on the design and analysis of micro-hotplate (MHP) structures is presented. The simulation provides the estimation of heating efficiency and temperature distribution on the hotplate. The analysis is applied to a newly proposed MHP structure during the layout design. Novel design results in a hotplate with high heating efficiency, good temperature uniformity and ease of temperature sensing. The simulation result was compared with measurement. For the first time, Liquid Crystal Thermography is used to visualize the temperature profile on the hotplate.