The mechanical-thermal coupling behaviour of surface micromachined polysilicon hot plates of low power consumption

The surface micromachined "poly" membrane, compatible with IC technology, was technologically designed and mechanically and thermally simulated by 3D finite element "COSMOS". We investigate capability of the "poly" membrane to work as micro hot plates for gas sensing applications. In this paper, the simulation results are shown as a function of input power and surface area of the membrane. At room temperature the following results were obtained. The maximum normal stress has a value of 151.12 N/m/sup 2/ and the maximum displacement has a value of 3.81/spl times/10/sup -4/ /spl mu/m. At an input power of 100 mW applied to the structure the value of this normal stress is now about 196.45728/spl times/10/sup 3/ N/m/sup 2/ and the maximum displacements of the membrane are located in the same place as in the RT case, and their values are lower than 0.1 /spl mu/m.