Design and Testing of a Non-Contact MEMS Voltage Sensor Based on Single-Crystal Silicon Piezoresistive Effect

The paper presents a novel non-contact microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) voltage sensor based on the piezoresistive effect of single-crystal silicon. The novelty of the proposed sensor design lies in the implementation of unique single-crystal silicon piezoresistive beams for voltage measurement. The sensitive structure of the sensor produces electrostatic force deformation due to the measured voltage, resulting in the resistance change of single-crystal silicon piezoresistive beams which support a vibrating diaphragm. The voltage can be measured by sensing the resistance change. Moreover, the sensor does not need an additional driving signal and has lower power consumption. The prototype of the sensor was fabricated using an SOI micromachining process. The piezoresistive characteristics of the sensor and the corresponding output response relationship were analyzed through theoretical analysis and finite element simulation. The voltage response characteristics of the sensor were achieved at power frequencies from 50 Hz to 1000 Hz in the paper. The experimental results showed that they were in good agreement with simulations results with the theoretical model and obtained good response characteristics. The sensor has demonstrated that the minimum detectable voltages were 1 V for AC voltages at frequencies from 50 Hz to 300 Hz and 0.5 V for AC voltages at frequencies from 400 Hz to 1000 Hz, respectively. Moreover, the linearities of the sensor were 3.4% and 0.93% in the voltage measurement range of 900–1200 V at the power frequency of 50 Hz and in the voltage measurement range of 400–1200 V at the frequency of 200 Hz, respectively.