Self-testable Pressure Sensors Based on Phase Change

Novel self-testable pressure sensors based on phase change have been fabricated. The sensors were built in a glass-silicon-glass sandwich structure. Water acted as the phase change material (PCM) was injected into the cavity of the pressure sensor. Appling voltage to the heating resistor, the PCM boiled. The vapor produced by phase change can produce high enough self-testable output. Therefore, the method had been used for large-scale pressure sensors. The design and simulation of the new structure, the main fabrication process, and the experimental results on the self-testable function were presented. The self-testable output is up to 3.0% of the full-scale output.