µHeater on a Buckled Cantilever Plate for Gas Sensor Applications

A. Arpys Arevalo Carreno[1], E. Byas[1], I.G. Foulds[1]
[1]King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Published in 2012

In semiconductor gas sensors, the base of the gas detection is the interaction of the gaseous species at the surface of the semiconducting sensitive material. Since the chemical reactions at the surface of the sensor material are functions of temperature. We simulate our µHeater design on a Buckled Cantilever Plate (BCP). Such structure allows the sensor to be suspended for thermal insulation. We have integrated both the Structural Mechanical interface and the Joule Heating interface. Structural Mechanics and Joule Heating modules where used for the simulation.The main objective of our work is to calculate the appropriate parameters needed to generate 350 °C on the plate surface, which is the working temperature aimed for our gas sensor.