An integrated thermopile structure with high responsivity using any standard CMOS process

Olgun Z., Akar O., Kulah H., Akin T.

1997 International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, Illinois, United States Of America, 16 - 19 June 1997, pp.1263-1266 identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume:
  • City: Illinois
  • Country: United States Of America
  • Page Numbers: pp.1263-1266
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper reports a new thermopile structure using n-poly/p(+)-active layers that are available in any CMOS technology. The thermopile structures are obtained by post-etching of the fabricated and bonded chips. P+-active layers are placed in n-well regions, which are protected from etching by electrochemical etch-stop technique in a TMAH solution. The characterization results show that Seebeck coefficients of the n-poly and p(+)-active layers are -335 mu V/K and 450 mu V/K, respectively. Tests show that a cantilever type thermopile with 21 thermocouples will result in responsivity and detectivity of 43 V/W and 1.06 x 10(7) (cm.root Hz)/W, respectively, when n-well is present and 617 V/W and 1.5x10(8) (cm.root Hz)/W, respectively, when n-well is removed.