Electric Modulation on the Sensitivity and Sensing Range of CMOS-MEMS Tactile Sensor by Using the PDMS Elastomer Fill-In

This study presents the design and implementation of a MEMS capacitive tactile force sensor with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) filler for in-process and in-use modulation of the sensing range and sensitivity performance. The presented MEMS tactile force sensor consists of a loading unit with driving electrodes, PDMS filler, and a sensing unit. By varying input voltages on the driving electrodes (either in curing process or in-use), the stiffness of the PDMS filler as well as the loading unit can be modulated. Thus, the sensitivity and sensing range of the presented tactile force sensor was modulated accordingly. Since each sensor has its own driving electrodes and electrical routings, different input voltages can be applied to modulate the PDMS for each individual sensor. As a result, tactile sensors of different sensitivities and sensing ranges can be simultaneously fabricated and monolithically integrated on the same chip using the presented approach. The tactile sensors were implemented using TSMC 0.18 μm 1P6M standard CMOS process together with the in-house post-CMOS releasing and the polymer filling processes. Experiments demonstrate the capabilities of implementing various tactile sensors with different sensing ranges and sensitivities on a single chip by the in-process and in-use modulation techniques. Through the in-process and in-use modulation, the presented CMOS-MEMS tactile sensors show the sensing window: (1) for sensitivity modulation: 8.6 fF/N to 219.1 fF/N, and (2) for sensing range modulation: 30 mN to 270 mN.