Integrated Sensor Calibration with Resistive Heater
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sensor devices, particularly those using MEMS technology, face challenges in maintaining high accuracy and stability across varying temperatures, requiring time-consuming calibration processes that increase production costs.
Innovation Solution
An integrated sensor device with a resistive heater and calibration circuit that allows for rapid and uniform heating of the sensor element, enabling calibration during both the manufacturing process and the device's service life, using a stacked die configuration with a signal generator to achieve precise temperature control and offset compensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the sensor is placed in an oven for calibration at varying temperatures, then the sensor can be calibrated to compensate for temperature drifts, but the calibration process takes a lot of time and increases production costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical oven-based heating system with an integrated resistive heater directly coupled to the sensor die. This electrical heating system allows for rapid, precise, and localized temperature control of the sensor element, eliminating the time-consuming process of heating entire oven chambers while maintaining calibration accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent integrates the resistive heater within the sensor package structure, with the heater die stacked beneath the sensor die in a vertical arrangement. This nested configuration allows the heater to be thermally coupled to the sensor element while maintaining electrical isolation, enabling direct heating of the sensor element without requiring external oven equipment.
2Reliability
If the sensor is placed in an oven for calibration, then temperature drift compensation can be achieved, but production costs increase due to extended calibration time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical oven-based heating system with an integrated resistive heater directly coupled to the sensor die. This electrical heating system allows for rapid, precise, and localized temperature control of the sensor element, eliminating the time-consuming process of heating entire oven chambers while maintaining calibration accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables dynamic control of the heating parameters through the resistive heater, allowing for rapid adjustment of temperature and heating rate. This provides precise control over the thermal conditions during calibration, enabling faster achievement of stable temperature states compared to conventional oven methods.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the production process, reduces calibration time, and enhances the sensor's temperature stability, allowing for efficient and cost-effective calibration across a wide range of applications, including magnetic and inertial sensors.
Implementation Method 1
a signal generator configured to provide an electric current between the first and second conduction terminals of the resistive heater to generate heat by the Joule effect to bring the sensor element to a predefined temperature
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated sensor device including a first die, housing a sensor element to detect a quantity external to the sensor device and transduce the external quantity into an electrical sensing signal; a second die mechanically coupled to the first die so that the first and second dies are stacked on one another along one and the same axis; and at least one heater of a resistive type integrated in the first die and/or in the second die, having a first conduction terminal and a second conduction terminal configured to couple respective first and second conduction terminals of a signal generator for causing an electric current to flow, in use, between the first and second conduction terminals of the heater and generate heat by the Joule effect. It is possible to carry out calibration in temperature of the sensor element.