Material and geometry selection of a multi-layer microcantilever thermal sensor with piezoresistive readout

In recent years, micro cantilever thermal sensors with integrated piezoresistive readout have been extensively explored. In this paper, we perform the material and geometry selection of a multi-layer cantilever thermal sensor for maximizing its thermal sensitivity. Present work is performed in two phases. In the first phase, material selection of constituent layers of the cantilever thermal sensor is performed considering various material set reported in the literature. Subsequently, impact of sensor geometry on thermal and electrical sensitivities of the sensor is investigated using computations. Results show that for the chosen material set compared to various cantilever shapes reported in the literature, slender rectangular cantilever platform depicts higher thermal sensitivity. Further, it is observed that the sensor depicts an electrical sensitivity in the range of 1∗10-2.