Zinc Oxide-Based Piezoelectric Pressure Sensor

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of zinc oxide (ZnO) in piezoelectric pressure sensors, demonstrating linear response characteristics through finite element simulations, and compares its performance with other piezoelectric materials.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation-based approach for designing ZnO-based piezoelectric sensors and compares ZnO's properties with other materials for pressure sensing applications.

Findings

Displacement and voltage vary linearly with applied pressure.

Simulation results are consistent with other piezoelectric materials.

The approach aids in optimizing sensor sensitivity and performance.

Abstract

This paper reports the application of zinc oxide (ZnO) in the pressure sensors that can be integrated with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). ZnO is one of the materials that has received a great deal of attention due to its unique properties of being a semiconductor with wide bandgap and piezoelectric effects. The simpler crystal growth mechanisms of ZnO have resulted in a lower cost of ZnO-based sensors. Different types of pressure sensors based on ZnO sensing elements have also been explored. A thin circular ZnO film was simulated as a piezoelectric sensor employing the finite element method in COMSOL. The pressure applied on the thin film surface was varied and a boundary point probe was used to study the displacement field and voltage at the center of the membrane. The displacement field and voltage induced by pressure vary linearly with increasing pressure on the ZnO layer. Also. the method used in this paper was applied to different piezoelectric materials, such as barium titanate (BaTiO3), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and gallium arsenide (GaAs) that were studied by other groups, and similar conclusions were made. These simulations can be used in the design of piezoelectric sensors and the optimization of the sensitivity and performance of the materials used in pressure sensor applications.