Experimental investigation on a new strain gauge realized by a semiconductor active device

Strain gauges based on resistance variation of a metallic alloy are well suited for stress measurements. The main drawback of such transducers is the need of a high gain voltage amplifier that increases the whole cost. In this paper an active device, a vertical MOSFET (DMOS), is experimentally investigated in order to verify the potential and feasibility of a new transducer, for stress measurements, based on a low cost component suitable for use without voltage amplifiers.