Open AccessA Numerical Model of Joule Heating in Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors
Author(s) -
Abdelaziz Beddiaf,
Fouad Kerrour,
Salah Kemouche
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of electrical and computer engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.277
H-Index - 22
ISSN - 2088-8708
DOI - 10.11591/ijece.v6i3.pp1223-1232
Subject(s) - joule heating , joule effect , voltage , mechanics , materials science , offset (computer science) , thermal , thermal conduction , piezoresistive effect , input offset voltage , heat transfer , pressure sensor , electrical engineering , optoelectronics , thermodynamics , computer science , physics , engineering , composite material , amplifier , operational amplifier , cmos , programming language
Thermal drift caused by Joule heating in piezoresistive pressure sensors affects greatly the results in the shift of the offset voltage of the such sensors. The study of the thermal behavior of these sensors is essential to define the parameters that cause the output characteristic drift. The impact of Joule heating in a pressure sensor has been studied. The study involves the solution of heat transfer equation considering the conduction in Cartesian coordinates for the transient regime using Finite Difference Method. We determine how the temperature affects the sensor during the applying a supply voltage. For this, the temperature rise generated by Joule heating in piezoresistors has been calculated for different geometrical parameters of the sensor as well as for different operating time. It is observed that Joule heating leads to important rise temperature in the piezoresistor and, hence, causes drift in the output voltage variations in a sensor during its operated in a prolonged time. This paper put emphasis on the geometric influence parameters on these characteristics to optimize the sensor performance. The optimization of geometric parameters of sensor allows us to reducing the internal heating effect. Results showed also that low bias voltage should be applied for reducing Joule heating.