Novel Polymer MEMS Capacitive Hydrogen sensor with Palladium Ring on Membrane-Mass Architecture

Abstract

In this paper, we report a novel high sensitivity polymer MEMS based capacitive hydrogen gas sensor on a membrane-mass architecture. The novel design of the sensor along with the use of SU-8 as structural layer materials allows the sensor to effectively transduce the hydrogen gas absorption to large capacitance change. The sensor is simulated using a finite element analysis software (FEA) and the mechanical and electromechanical behavior of the sensor is studied. The sensor exhibits over 61% capacitance change for 0.5% volume of hydrogen gas which is 3.8 times higher than previously reported sensors. The novel sensor design also offers a large design window to enhance the sensitivity and the gas detection range.