A. L. Herrera-May

Resonant Magnetic Field Sensors Based On MEMS Technology.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology allows the integration of magnetic field sensors with electronic components, which presents important advantages such as small size, light weight, minimum power consumption, low cost, better sensitivity and high resolution. We present a discussion and review of resonant magnetic field sensors based on MEMS technology. In practice, these sensors exploit the Lorentz force in order to detect external magnetic fields through the displacement of resonant structures, which are measured with optical, capacitive, and piezoresistive sensing techniques. From these, the optical sensing presents immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and reduces the read-out electronic complexity. Moreover, piezoresistive sensing requires an easy fabrication process as well as a standard packaging. A description of the operation mechanisms, advantages and drawbacks of each sensor is considered. MEMS magnetic field sensors are a potential alternative for numerous applications, including the automotive industry, military, medical, telecommunications, oceanographic, spatial, and environment science. In addition, future markets will need the development of several sensors on a single chip for measuring different parameters such as the magnetic field, pressure, temperature and acceleration.

A resonant magnetic field microsensor with high quality factor at atmospheric pressure

A resonant magnetic field microsensor with a high quality factor at atmospheric pressure has been designed, fabricated and tested. This microsensor does not require vacuum packaging to operate efficiently and presents a compact and simple geometrical configuration of silicon. This geometry permits us to decrease the size of the structure and facilities its fabrication and operation. It is constructed of a seesaw plate (400 × 150 × 15 µm3), two torsional beams (60 × 40 × 15 µm3), four flexural beams (130 × 12 × 15 µm3) and a Wheatstone bridge with four p-type piezoresistors. The resonant device exploits the Lorentz force principle and operates at its first resonant frequency (136.52 kHz). A sinusoidal excitation current of 22.0 mA with a frequency of 136.52 kHz and magnetic fields from 1 to 400 G are considered. The mechanical response of the microsensor is modeled with the finite element method (FEM). The structure of the microsensor registered a maximum von Mises stress of 53.8 MPa between the flexural and the torsional beams. Additionally, a maximum deflection (372.5 nm) is obtained at the extreme end of the plate. The proposed microsensor has the maximum magnetic sensitivity of 40.3 µV G−1 (magnetic fields <70 G), theoretical root-mean square (rms) noise voltage of 57.48 nV Hz−1/2, theoretical resolution of 1.43 mG Hz−1/2 and power consumption less than 10.0 mW.

Biocompatibility and Surface Properties of TiO2 Thin Films Deposited by DC Magnetron Sputtering

We present the study of the biocompatibility and surface properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering. These films are deposited on a quartz substrate at room temperature and annealed with different temperatures (100, 300, 500, 800 and 1100 °C). The biocompatibility of the TiO2 thin films is analyzed using primary cultures of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of Wistar rats, whose neurons are incubated on the TiO2 thin films and on a control substrate during 18 to 24 h. These neurons are activated by electrical stimuli and its ionic currents and action potential activity recorded. Through X-ray diffraction (XRD), the surface of TiO2 thin films showed a good quality, homogeneity and roughness. The XRD results showed the anatase to rutile phase transition in TiO2 thin films at temperatures between 500 and 1100 °C. This phase had a grain size from 15 to 38 nm, which allowed a suitable structural and crystal phase stability of the TiO2 thin films for low and high temperature. The biocompatibility experiments of these films indicated that they were appropriated for culture of living neurons which displayed normal electrical behavior.

Analytical Modeling for the Bending Resonant Frequency of Sensors Based on Micro and Nanoresonators With Complex Structural Geometry

Micro- and nanoresonator sensors have important applications such as in chemical and biological sensing, environmental control, monitoring of viscosity and magnetic fields, and inertial forces detection. However, most of these resonators are designed as complex structures that complicate the estimation of their resonant frequencies (generally of the bending or torsional mode). In this paper, we present an analytical model to estimate the resonant frequency of the first bending mode of micro- and nanoresonators based on a beam system under different load types. This system is constructed of beams with different cross sections joined through a series-parallel arrangement. The analytical model is derived using the Rayleigh and Macaulay methods, as well as the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. In addition, we determined the deflection function of the beam system, which can be used to establish its bending structural response under several load types. We applied the model to both a silicon microresonator (with a thickness of 5 μ m) for an experimental magnetic field sensor developed in our laboratory and for a polycrystalline silicon nanoresonator (with a thickness of 160 nm) of a mass sensor reported in the literature. The results of our analytical model have a comparable agreement with those obtained from the finite-element models (FEMs) and with the experimental measurements. Our analytical model can be useful in the mechanical design of micro- and nanoresonators with complex structural configurations.

Signal Conditioning System With a 4–20 mA Output for a Resonant Magnetic Field Sensor Based on MEMS Technology

Several resonant magnetic field sensors based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology use piezoresistive detection techniques to convert the magnetic field signal into an electrical signal. We present a signal conditioning system implemented in a printed circuit board (PCB) for a resonant magnetic field sensor based on MEMS technology. This sensor is formed by a resonant structure of thin silicon beams (5 μm thick), an aluminum loop (1 μm thick), and a Wheatstone bridge with four p-type piezoresistors. The Wheatstone bridge is biased with an alternating voltage of 2 Vpp at 1 kHz and the aluminum loop is supplied using an alternating current with a root-mean-square (RMS) value of 20 mA. This current is applied to the resonant frequency of the sensor (14.38 kHz) through an oscillator that has a frequency stability of ± 100 ppm at atmospheric temperature and a resolution of 1 Hz. The proposed system obtains the sensors electrical response in voltage or current mode, which presents an approximately linear behavior for a range of magnetic field density from -150 to +150 μT. This system minimizes the offset of the sensors electrical response and allows the detection of the polarity and magnitude of the magnetic field density. A virtual instrument is designed using Lab VIEW software to visualize the 4-20 mA output of the sensor. The designed system can help the development of portable measurement equipment to detect (at pressure atmospheric) low magnetic field densities with a sensitivity and resolution of 4 V · T-1 and 1 μT, respectively.

Biparameter Homotopy-based Direct Current Simulation of Multistable Circuits

The microelectronics area constantly demands better and improved circuit simulation tools. This is the reason that this article is to present a biparameter homotopy with automated stop criterion, which is applied to direct current simulation of multistable circuits. This homotopy possesses the following characteristics: symmetry axis, double bounding solution line, arbitrary initial and final points, and lessen the nonlinearities that exist in the circuit. Besides, this method will be exemplified and discussed by using a benchmark multistable circuit.

Digital Signal Processing by Virtual Instrumentation of a MEMS Magnetic Field Sensor for Biomedical Applications

We present a signal processing system with virtual instrumentation of a MEMS sensor to detect magnetic flux density for biomedical applications. This system consists of a magnetic field sensor, electronic components implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB), a data acquisition (DAQ) card, and a virtual instrument. It allows the development of a semi-portable prototype with the capacity to filter small electromagnetic interference signals through digital signal processing. The virtual instrument includes an algorithm to implement different configurations of infinite impulse response (IIR) filters. The PCB contains a precision instrumentation amplifier, a demodulator, a low-pass filter (LPF) and a buffer with operational amplifier. The proposed prototype is used for real-time non-invasive monitoring of magnetic flux density in the thoracic cage of rats. The response of the rat respiratory magnetogram displays a similar behavior as the rat electromyogram (EMG).

Analytical modeling for the bending resonant frequency of multilayered microresonators with variable cross-section.

Multilayered microresonators commonly use sensitive coating or piezoelectric layers for detection of mass and gas. Most of these microresonators have a variable cross-section that complicates the prediction of their fundamental resonant frequency (generally of the bending mode) through conventional analytical models. In this paper, we present an analytical model to estimate the first resonant frequency and deflection curve of single-clamped multilayered microresonators with variable cross-section. The analytical model is obtained using the Rayleigh and Macaulay methods, as well as the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Our model is applied to two multilayered microresonators with piezoelectric excitation reported in the literature. Both microresonators are composed by layers of seven different materials. The results of our analytical model agree very well with those obtained from finite element models (FEMs) and experimental data. Our analytical model can be used to determine the suitable dimensions of the microresonator’s layers in order to obtain a microresonator that operates at a resonant frequency necessary for a particular application.

A handy approximate solution for a squeezing flow between two infinite plates by using of Laplace transform-homotopy perturbation method

This article proposes Laplace Transform Homotopy Perturbation Method (LT-HPM) to find an approximate solution for the problem of an axisymmetric Newtonian fluid squeezed between two large parallel plates. After comparing figures between approximate and exact solutions, we will see that the proposed solutions besides of handy, are highly accurate and therefore LT-HPM is extremely efficient.

Respiratory Magnetogram Detected with a MEMS Device

Magnetic fields generated by the brain or the heart are very useful in clinical diagnostics. Therefore, magnetic signals produced by other organs are also of considerable interest. Here we show first evidence that thoracic muscles can produce a strong magnetic flux density during respiratory activity, that we name respiratory magnetogram. We used a small magnetometer based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), which was positioned inside the open thoracic cage of anaesthetized and ventilated rats. With this new MEMS sensor of about 20 nT resolution, we recorded a strong and rhythmic respiratory magnetogram of about 600 nT.