Analysis of Square and Circular Diaphragms for a MEMS Pressure Sensor Using a Data Mining Tool

Micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) are small integrated 3 dimensional devices having structures ranging from sub micron level to millimeter level that combine electrical and mechanical components on a single substrate. They find various applications in mechanical, optical and biological fields due to a reduction in size, the excellent mechanical properties of silicon, extension of the well developed designing, fabrication and packaging processes of the Integrated Circuit (IC) industry, cost effectiveness etc. The special feature of a smart MEMS sensor is the ability to integrate sensing, controlling and actuating functions on a single chip. In this paper various factors which play a critical role in the performance of a MEMS pressure sensor diaphragm are discussed. Various parameters like side length, radius, and maximum stress induced in a square and circular diaphragm are calculated for a pressure range of 0.1 to 1MPa. The effects of variations in the applied pressure on the geometry of the sensing element and the relationship between applied pressure, the induced stress and the dimensions of the micro sensing diaphragm are discussed using the WEKA data mining tool.