Thermal analysis of micro-hotplates for catalytic gas microsensors

Abstract

The analytical method is presented to conduct thermal analysis of micro-hot plates for catalytic gas microsensors. The 2D structure of a micro-hotplate is divided into the regions, the temperature distribution in which is found by the eigenfunction method. To take into account the temperature dependencies parameters the iteration procedure is used. The values of the parameters are determined using the weighted mean temperature in each region. The application of this method is considered on the example of the catalytic gas microsensors based on the square plates supported by two cantilever beams in various places: at centre of two opposite sides; at two opposite corners; at two adjacent corners. For these micro-hotplates the following characteristics were determined: the dependencies of the weighted mean overheating temperature, the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures and the ratio of the weighted mean overheating temperature to the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures on the length of the cantilever beams, the dimensions of the micro-hotplate and the supply voltage of the microsensor.