Design and characterization of microelectromechanical system flow sensors using silicon nanowires

Liang Lou, Chengkuo Lee, Xiangguo Xu, Rama Krishna Kotlanka, Lichun Shao, Woo Tae Park, D. L. Kwong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cantilever structures were reported to be used for flow sensing purposes. Herein, we present silicon nanowire (SiNW) based cantilever flow sensor. Five cantilever flow sensors with different depths are modeled and simulated (fluid-structure) with water flow velocity from 50 cm/s to 200 cm/s. SiNW is embedded in the cantilever as piezoresistive transducer at the anchor, and a maximum resistance change of 11.2% is obtained. Based on the results, increasing depth will not only contributes to larger cantilever deformation at fixed flow velocity, but also improves its sensitivity. However when the depth become larger to certain degree, this effect tends to saturate.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)230-234
Number of pages5
JournalNanoscience and Nanotechnology Letters
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2011

Keywords

  • Flow sensor
  • MEMS
  • Silicon nanowire

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