CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL PIEZO-TUNNELING STRAIN SENSOR

In this paper we characterize a novel silicon piezo-tunneling strain s ensor having a very low temperature dependence of the sensitivity. The sensor is based on a shallow lateral backward diode with a prevailing band-to-band tunneling current in its reverse-bias characteristic. At the operating reverse bias, a gage factor K = 20 has been measured. T he temperature dependence of the tunneling current is found to be smal l and of opposite sign to that of conventional piezoresistors. Further more, the change of the gage factor due to temperature is about one or der of magnitude smaller than that of piezoresistors. (C) 1998 Elsevie r Science S.A. All rights reserved.