MEMS Humidity Sensors

Abstract

This chapter reviews MEMS humidity sensors fabricated using microfabrication technologies. It discusses the operation principle, different designs, and the fabrication technologies for the different sensing mechanisms. Sensing humidity using capacitive sensors is first reviewed with a highlight on the different sensing materials and how their permittivity and physical parameters affect the sensor performance. Then the chapter discusses the piezoelectric humidity sensing method, wherein piezoelectric sensors the dynamic mode measurement is used. In these sensors, the mass changes corresponding to the humidity, resulting in resonance frequency shift and amplitude change. Finally, the chapter reviews the resistive humidity sensors where the change in the resistivity of various materials is used as an indication of humidity change in the environment.