Reliability of FET-type gas sensor with asymmetric air-gap micro-heater structure considering thermoelectric effect

Poly-silicon has a wide range of applications because of its interesting properties in the thermoelectric effect. We propose an optimal field-effect transistor-type (FET-type) gas sensor platform with an embedded poly-silicon micro-heater designed considering both power consumption and reliability. Since the poly-silicon micro-heater has a thermoelectric effect, the reliability of the micro-heater can be improved without a significant increase in power consumption by adopting asymmetric etch-holes (finally asymmetric air-gap) along the heater electrode. The sensor with the shorter etch-hole (10 µm) around one electrode of the heater electrode increases power consumption by only 1.22 times but can increase lifetime by 14.2 times. The heat distribution and contact temperature of symmetric and asymmetric air-gap heaters are compared using COMSOL Multiphysics. Sensors with different lengths of etch-holes are fabricated, and the thermal response and reliability of the fabricated sensors are measured and analyzed. In addition, in a sensor in which a thin film of indium oxide is deposited as a sensing material on the gas sensor platform, the effect of air-gap design change on the gas sensing characteristics is investigated. Depending on the polarity of the voltage applied between the two terminals of the heater, the difference in void formation and damage at the heater contacts is confirmed by TEM and EDS analysis.