Ultra-Sensitive Piezoresistive Strain Sensor Utilising Lateral Photovoltaic Effect in 3C-SIC/SI Heterojunction

In this paper, we propose a strain measurement technique utilising the lateral photovoltaic effect. A gauge factor of 141400 was demonstrated in an n-3C-SiC/n-Si heterojunction, which is the highest gauge factor reported for piezoresistive sensors to date. By introducing a lateral photovoltage to the system, the gauge factor was increased by approximately four orders of magnitude. Our findings provide an important toolbox for characterising and developing ultra-sensitive piezoresistive sensors.