170 ELECTRONICS & POWER FEBRUARY 1983

The constraints on the design

and use of silicon-diaphragm
pressure sensors
As with all devices, the silicon-diaphragm pressure
sensor has limitations to both its design and field of
application. This article highlights the types of
compromise the designer of such devices is forced
to make

by J.H. Greenwood

Silicon-diaphragm pressure sensors
have been available for a decade. They
are a good example of how techniques
developed for the manufacture of in-
tegrated circuits have been adapted to
produce devices for measuring physical
quantities. Their advantages include
small size, low power consumption, com-
patibility with electronic circuits and
cheapness, and they have been used ex-
1 Schematic representation of silicon pressure sensor
tensively in the aircraft, medical and
process-control industries. Like all
devices, however, they have certain
limitations, and the purpose of this arti-
cle is to introduce the user to the deci-
sions the designer of such sensors must
face. It is hoped that this will help to ex- function independently, being isolated
plain some of the compromises in the
manufacturers' specifications and to
demonstrate the points which the user
crystallographic
orientations
[on]
-wire bonds
substrate
0013-5127/83/020170+ 05 $01-50/0 ^IEE: 1983
must watch.
Physical design: A silicon pressure sen-
sor consists of a thin silicon diaphragm
into which are diffused resistors (Fig. 1).
Mechanically the resistors form part of
the diaphragm, but electrically they
from the rest of the diaphragm by the p-n
junction. These resistors function as
strain gauges.
The simplest design would be to make
such a diaphragm and attach it to the
end of a support tube, but a joint so close
to the strain gauges will usually in-
troduce hysteresis. The diaphragm is
therefore generally made by creating a
recess on the reverse side of the silicon
chip and leaving a solid 'frame' around
it. The material can be removed
mechanically, using ultrasonic or high-
speed diamond machining, but although
these methods are relatively fast they
leave a damaged layer which has to be
removed by chemical etching. If the
crystal orientation is (100), anisotropic
etching, using, for example, potassium
hydroxide, will produce a hole with a flat
bottom and pyramidal {111} sides along
<011> directions, resulting in a square
diaphragm. A further method is to grow
an epitaxial layer with a different doping
level on the substrate and to use a
preferential etch which will remove the
substrate in the area of the recess and
stop when it reaches the epitaxial layer.
 ELECTRONICS & POWER FEBRUARY 1983 171
The epitaxial layer then becomes the
diaphragm.
Limitatation due to strength: The
strength of silicon, like that of glass,
depends entirely on the state of the sur-
face. At room temperature there is effec-
tively no plastic flow, and when the first
flaw reaches its critical stress the silicon
breaks. Larger diaphragms should be
weaker because there is a greater
chance of a large flaw being present.
The diffused surface of the diaphragm
will be that of the original silicon wafer,
protected in general by a layer of silicon
dioxide, and the reverse will be a blank
surface formed by one of the processes
stated above. Although very high
strengths have been attained with
careful handling, a general production
value is 500 MPa. Allowing for a safety
factor of five, appropriate to brittle
materials with a wide scatter of
strengths, and including the overload
limit, the maximum stress at the edge of
a circular diaphragm would be
100 MPa. For most pressures this max-
imum stress dictates the output that can
be obtained from the sensor.

Electrical design maximum output:

The piezoresistivity of doped silicon is
such that there are two choices of
design: n-type resistors in a p-type
substrate of (110) orientation or p-type
resistors in an n-iype substrate of (100)
orientation. The second orientation is
more favoured because of better lineari-
ty and because it enables one to use
anisotropic etching. The gauges are sen-
sitive to tension and compression along
their length and also, to an equal and
opposite extent, to stresses perpen-
dicular to them. If pressure is applied to
the diffused side of the bridge illustrated
in Fig. 1 the upper and lower gauges will
extend and thus increase in resistance,
while the left and right hand gauges
sense the transverse tensile stress and
will decrease in resistance by an almost
equal amount. The four are used
together as a complete bridge, whose
output for a circular diaphragm is given
by the formula
Pr2
V = iR %n44 (1 - v)
h2
where / and R are bridge current and
gauge resistance, n44 is a piezoresistive
coefficient for silicon, v is the Poisson's
ratio for <011> directions, P is the ap-
plied pressure, h is the diaphragm
thickness and r the radius of the
diaphragm.
The maximum stress at the diaphragm
edge is equal to
max = W
and the maximum output is therefore
theoretically equal to
1/2
^ * 4 4 ( 1 - v)omax
For a diaphragm with ;' = 1mA, R =
2 Example of the variation In nonllnearlty of a silicon pressure sensor as a function of
thickness. As the pressure range Is Increased the nonllnearlty changes from positive,
through S-shaped, \o negative and back to positive. Circular diaphragm sensor, 5 V In-
put, 150 mV output
5000 fl (applied voltage 5 V), n44 = 1-15
x 10~9 Pa" 1 , v = 0-07, omax = 100
MPa, the maximum output is about 270
mV.
The values of the bridge current; and
resistance R will be chosen to suit the ex-
ternal circuit, limited only by resistive
heating in the gauge. The commercially
available sensors all differ. The doping
level, on the other hands is fixed by
temperature considerations to be about 3
x 1018 atoms/cm3, giving the value of
n44 quoted above. The surface resistivity,
depending on the junction depth, is then
typically 120 fi/Q. The gauge resistance
will be defined by the shape of the
resistor, and for process control applica-
tions, subject to intrinsic safety re-
quirements, typical limitations of 1mA
and 5V will define a resistance of
5000 J2, with an aspect ratio of 5000:120
or 42:1.
In the example quoted above it is
assumed that the whole strain gauge will
see the maximum stress of 100 MPa. In
reality the resistor will have a finite size.
Orienting the mask to generate the
recesses on one face of the silicon wafer
with respect to the diffusion on the op-
posite face can easily result in alignment
errors, and for this reason the gauge will
have to be spaced a certain distance
from the diaphragm edge. The final
choice of dimensions depends on the
quality of the manufacturer's
photolithography and the degree of
reproducibility he requires from sensor
to sensor.
As the contribution of the gauge to
pressure sensitivity is proportional to the
square of its distance from the centre,
these dimensional restrictions have a
large effect on the output. Long resistors
are often folded to the shape of an S or a
U to keep them near the edge. A prac-
tical maximum output for the example
quoted above would be 150 mV, or 3%
of the applied voltage.
Diaphragm thickness upper pressure
limit: For a 100 kPa (1 bar) pressure
range typical diaphragm dimensions are
a radius of 1 mm and a thickness of
27 jim. Higher pressure ranges are ob-
tained by increasing the thickness:
doubling it will increase the pressure
range by a factor of four.
The thickness can be increased until it
approaches the size of the diaphragm,
which then ceases to function as a
diaphragm at all. Silicon pressure
transducers are generally available up
to about 70 MPa (Druck), although
special designs will go up to 150 MPa.
At such levels the mounting and
pressure connections are likely to cause
more problems than the chip itself.
Lower pressures the problem of
nonlinearity: As the pressure range is
lowered, so the diaphragm must be
made progressively thinner. The
ultimate limit would be when the diffu-
sion depth (1-2/um) approached the
neutral axis of the diaphragm, and
silicon diaphragms 7 ^m thick have
been achieved for other purposes. For
pressure sensors, however, the
tolerances on thickness, or output, and
on diaphragm taper set a practical limit
of about 20 jim, or thicker if mechanical
machining is used. When this limit is
172 ELECTRONICS & POWER FEBRUARY 1983
15r
3=10
. /i
resistance change,
en
o
/
/ 50
-5
y temperature, C
3 Variation in resistance with temperature for boron-doped
silicon strain gauge
reached it may be possible to increase
the radius instead, although the
manufacturer will want to avoid using
too many different photolithographic
masks. Increasing the ratio of dia-
phragm diameter to thickness will in-
crease the sensitivity, but at the same
time it will also increase the nonlineari-
ty.
Nonlinearity in silicon diaphragms
arises from the mechanics of the
diaphragm and from the piezoresistive
effect itself. The piezoresistivity of
transverse gauges is more linear than for
radial ones, but for <01 l>p-type gauges
the nonlinearity of the gauges in tension,
or transverse compression, approxi-
mately compensates for those in compres-
sion, or transverse tension, if two of each
are used to complete the bridge. The
piezoresistive contribution to the
nonlinearity will depend on the level of
strain, or the output of the chip.
The mechanical nonlinearity has two
components. When a pressure P is ap-
plied, the diaphragm deflects, and at
first the strain is linearly proportional to
P. As the strain increases the tension in
the diaphragm (the balloon effect) will
reduce the overall stress levels by a fac-
tor dependent on P2. However, at the
surface of the diaphragm this same ten-
sile stress will add to the tensile compo-
nent of the bending stress a factor
dependent on P3.
For circular diaphragms of the type
shown in Fig.l, designed for a pressure
range of about 200 kPa, these two factors
practically cancel out and, when the
diaphragm is pressurised on the diffused
face, the output signal is almost linear.
When pressure is applied to the reverse
face, however, the two factors add to
produce a highly nonlinear
characteristic. At lower pressures the
difference in linearity between the two
pressure directions becomes more ex-
treme.
The range of terminal-based
nonlinearity measured on sensors with
circular silicon diaphragms is shown in
Fig. 2. Terminal based nonlinearity is
about twice the often quoted best-
straight-line (BSL) fit. At high pressures
the nonlinearity is positive, whereas at
200-300 kPa it is close to zero. At
100 kPa it is negative, and at lower
0.03
100
io 18 io 1 9
dopant concentration, atoms/cm3
4 Temperature coefficients of resistance and of pressure sensitivi-
ty as a function of dopant concentration for boron-doped silicon
pressures the sensor characteristic
becomes S-shaped and both positive and
negative nonlinearities are present.
Below about 20 kPa the nonlinearity
becomes positive and intolerably high.
These figures only apply to a par-
ticular design of circular diaphragm,
but it is notable that below 100 kPa some
manufacturers compromise their speci-
fication. They may prefer to quote a
lower output than a worse nonlinearity;
how far one reduces the output is
governed, apart from the limitations of
the amplifier, by the extent to which one
trusts the stability of the zero. This is
discussed in more detail below.
Some manufacturers achieve better
linearities by using different proprietary
gauge configurations. ICT has a long
rectangular diaphragm with transverse
gauges which sense the barrel-like
distortion across the centre, taking ad-
vantage of the more linear performance
of transverse gauges and the increased
output of this form of diaphragm. En-
devco uses a diaphragm with thick
'islands' and thin channels below the
strain gauges, which again sense
transverse stress. Motorola uses a shear-
gauge configuration. Using these
methods it is possible to go down to
25 kPa without compromising on
nonlinearity or output signal. With the
'islands' design the small area under
maximum stress can also result in a
strength advantage, and so enables such
sensors to be used at higher maximum
pressures.
Large, thin diaphragms are also more
sensitive to frequency, the resonant fre-
quency being proportional to h/r2. Most
sensors have resonant frequencies of
50 kHz and above, but this can also be
compromised for low pressure ranges.
Temperature effects
Compared with other types of strain
gauge, boron-doped silicon is very sen-
sitive to temperature. There are essen-
tially two effects: the temperature
dependence of resistance, which affects
the zero; and the temperature
dependence of the pressure sensitivity,
which affects the span. It would be im-
possible to operate a silicon strain-
gauge pressure sensor without providing
pressure sensitivity (negative)
resistance (positive)
io 2 0 i o 2 1 .22
10'
internal or external compensation, at
least for zero.
Temperature zero shift: The resitivity of
silicon doped with 3 x 1018 boron
atoms/cm3 increases with temperature at
0-2 to 0-3%/K. The increase is
nonlinear, following a curve such as that
in Fig. 3. If the bridge is perfectly
balanced then all four arms, or gauges,
will increase proportionally with
temperature, and the bridge will remain
balanced. In reality there will be an off-
set at zero pressure which will change
with temperature in the same way as the
resistors. The less the offset, the less the
problem. That is the basic temperature
zero dependence.
Unfortunately, however, it is not the
sole factor. There are other effects that
alter the temperature dependence of the
individual gauges, and once the sen-
sitivities of the gauges differ, the effect
on the temperature zero dependence is
dramatic. Consider, for example, a 5 K,
1 mA bridge with an initial offset of
20 mV at 20C that changes to 22 mV at
70C. If the temperature sensitivity of
one gauge is changed by only 1 % from
0-2 to 0-202% per degC, the zero at
70C is changed from 22 to 23-3 mV.
The temperature dependence of the out-
put now averages 0-33%/K, an increase
of 65%.
Such changes in the temperature
dependence of individual gauges can be
caused by:
differences in shape and diffusion
depth
leakage currents
nonohmic contact resistance at the
aluminium-silicon interface
external stresses.
Changes in the overall shape of the
gauges, due to errors in photo-
lithography or variations in diffusion
depth, will contribute in the first order to
the offset in output signal at zero
pressure. The position of the p-n junc-
tion will vary with temperature, and any
inequality between gauges will con-
tribute to the temperature zero shift. It is
quite common to find small differences
in temperature sensitivity between the
pair of gauges in tension and those in

compression, even when their geometric
shape is nominally identical.
Leakage currents in these devices can
increase by ten times if the temperature
rises by 25 K. A leakage current of
10 nA across one arm of a 5kft, 1 mA
bridge will produce an offset of
0-025 mV. Leakage currents of this
order can easily occur in manufacture.
At 75C, however, this current could
have risen to the order of 1 \iA and give
an offset of 2-5 mV. Leakage currents
are a main contributor to the
temperature zero shift at higher
temperatures and are the factor limiting
the temperature at which silicon-
diaphragm pressure sensors can be
used.
Nonohmic contact resistances should
have been detected at the manufactur-
ing stage. They are, however, a common
fault in semiconductors, their occur-
rence will be unpredictable and their
temperature dependence may be highly
nonlinear.
External temperature-dependent
stresses on the diaphragm can be caused
by differential thermal expansion in the
mounting or by the silicon dioxide layer
directly over the gauge surface.
To avoid any transient effects it is
essential that all four strain gauges on
the chip are at the same temperature.
This is generally achieved by placing
them close together. On a 5 kfl, 1 mA
bridge an offset of 0 25 mV can be caus-
ed by just one gauge being 0 1 K hotter
than the other three. For sensitive
calibration and compensation
measurements it is essential to stabilise
the temperature, and it can be helpful to
use the bridge resistance directly as a
nonlinear temperature scale.
Temperature span shift: The
piezoresitive coefficients of silicon, and
thus pressure sensitivity of the sensor,
decrease with temperature. Unlike the
resistance, the dependence is fairly
linear. The magnitude is - 0 - 2 to
-0-3%/K and therefore requires com-
pensation.
This can be achieved by using a con-
stant-current bridge supply and a con-
trolled doping level. Fig. 4 shows the
dependence of the temperature coeffi-
cients of zero and span on doping level.
By choosing the doping level to equal
one of the crossover points the two
temperature coefficients are equal and
opposite. The lower crossover point is
generally used because the pressure
sensitivity, which also depends on dop-
ing level, is higher. Any reduction in the
output signal due to a fall in sensitivity is
then accompanied with an increase in
bridge voltage due to the increase in
gauge resistance, and therefore main-
tains the value of the signal.
In theory the output is now indepen-
dent of temperature. In practice,
because the characteristic in Fig. 3 is
curved, the dependence of output on
temperature is nonlinear, as shown in
Fig. 5. There the doping has been
chosen so that the output is constant to
within 0-25% between 20 and 70C.
ELECTRONICS & POWER FEBRUARY 1983
wrong way round for good linearity. The
oxide is also a home for contaminating
ions, notably sodium, whose electro-
static fields cause local distortion and in-
stability of the p-n junction. Thermal
stresses in the mounting or simple elec-
2 trical leakages under varying humidity
conditions are further sources of error.
'o Some of these problems can be avoid-
-2 ed in the design and manufacture of the
chip. Thermal cycling and 'burning in'
0 50 100 are standard methods in the semicon-
temperature, #C
ductor industry and would be expected
to reduce high temperature shifts.
Gauges 'buried' below the silicon sur-
face by ion implantation, leaving a p-n
junction above as well as below the im-
5 Typical temperature dependence oi planted gauge, ensure that there is no
sensor output under constant-current contact with the oxide at all. Contact is
conditions made through wide lead-in areas off the
actual diaphragm, and so the metal-
By slightly reducing the doping level the silicon interface is large and not under
curve can be 'tilted' to the left and the stress.
output held constant over a lower For many general-purpose applica-
temperature range. Some manufacturers tions these levels of errors may be in-
therefore give a choice of compensated significant. They are, however, the fac-
temperature range. This method of com-
tor which limit the level of acceptable
pensation is subject, of course, to the output from low-pressure devices. They
tolerance band within which the doping
are particularly important in high-
level itself can be maintained. If the out- accuracy instruments, such as altimeters
put is to be kept constant over a wider
or differential pressure devices for
temperature range, such as say - 2 0 to measuring flow.
+ 70C, external compensation will be
required.
Limits on temperature range: The
If a constant voltage supply is chosen highest temperature at which the sensor
can operate is dictated by leakage ef-
the pressure sensitivity decreases with
temperature, as described above, and fects on the chip or to shifts in the mount-
ing. Sensors designed for higher
will always need external compensation.
temperatures must have fully insulating
layers instead of the p-n junction. The
Thermal drifts and stability: Zero drift,
particularly after heating and cooling, is lowest operating temperature is also set
by the materials in the mounting.
the Achilles heel of silicon pressure sen-
sors. It is difficult to quantify or to prove Within the overall temperature range
or disprove; some manufacturers quote most manufacturers quote a compen-
stability or reproducibility values and sated range within which the transducer
others quote for temperature hysteresis. performance is clearly specified. The
During pressure-sensor development we specification for span, in particular, will
have observed: be governed by the curve in Fig. 5. A
typical compensated range would be 0 to
hysteresis between heating and cool- 50C within an operating range from
ing curves of about 0'3 mV -40 to +150C.
instability on heating around 0C
drifts at lower temperatures, Compensation
recovered by heating to 100C Silicon-diaphragm pressure
permanent shifts at 100C of several transducers all need additional compen-
mV. sation. Some have discrete resistors,
some a hybrid circuit and some are
These errors are shown schematically in available with the circuitry on the' chip
Fig. 6. itself. Individual compensation will
All those factors that were mentioned always be required for zero offset,
as contributing to the zero temperature temperature zero shift and variability in
characteristic, which is repeatable, can output, while compensation for
contribute to these drifts, which are not. nonlinearity and temperature span shift
The surface oxide, which is in direct depends on the specification to be
contact with the diffused strain gauges, achieved.
is a particular source of trouble. Its ther- The variability in output signal is due
mal expansion coefficient is higher than chiefly to variations in diaphragm
that of silicon and can therefore in- thickness, with contributions from errors
troduce stresses or slippage at the sur- in alignment and taper mentioned
face. Some surface oxides are sensitive above. This variability may easily reach
to humidity, which no doubt accounts for 30% for low pressure ranges. Each
the instabilities at around 0C and the chip therefore requires individual
drifts that can be recovered by heating calibration or compensation. Nonlineari-
to 100C. An absolute pressure sensor ty will also vary with thickness, but ex-
with the reference vacuum on the diffus- ternal compensation is more complex,
ed side should be insensitive to humidity and is avoided if possible.
but, as mentioned above, this is the Initial offset and temperature zero shift
174 ELECTRONICS & POWER FEBRUARY 1983
6 Schematic diagram of zero errors during thermal cycling
can be easily compensated for by adding
individual shunt and series resistances to
the arms of the bridge, achieved for ex-
ample by laser trimming of an external
hybrid circuit. In this way there should
be little problem in reducing the
temperature zero shift to the order of
0-01% of full scale output per kelvin.
Thanks to the uniformity of modern
doping methods the temperature span
shift is generally very repeatable, and it
does not drift like the zero. If a wide
compensated temperature range is re-
quired the curve in Fig. 5 can be cor-
rected with a simple resistor in shunt
with the bridge, a positive-feedback
method or a thermistor circuit applied to
the constant-current supply. It may be
possible to use a standard circuit without
individual testing.
Packaging
Outwardly, the package will have
been designed to suit the application in
mind, with suitable pressure ports and
electrical connections. There is no stan-
dardisation and all devices are different.
The package must protect the chip from
mechanical shock and from thermally in-
duced stresses, hysteresis and light
(some sensors are excellent photo-
meters). A common method is to attach
the chip to a silicon backplate using gold
eutectic bonding. If this is done under
vacuum, the chamber formed between
the backplate and the original chip acts
as a reference vacuum for absolute
pressure measurements. The silicon can
also be attached to the end of a boro-
silicate CPyrex') glass tube, which has a
similar coefficient of linear expansion,
using electrostatic or ion-migration bon-
ding. Other bonding methods include
the use of tin-gold and glass frit. The
mounting and packaging design will
determine the size of the overall device,
the likelihood of pressure hysteresis, the
compatibility of different fluids, the
ability of differential sensors to withstand
high line pressures and the general
reliability.
Size: Small size is one of the important
advantages of silicon pressure sensors.
Many chips are around 4 mm square,
and with improvements in photo-
lithography the size of the complete
device is likely to be dictated by the chip
mounting, the size of the compensating
circuitry and the pressure and electrical
connections rather than by the chip.
Very small devices can be made, for ex-
ample, for medical applications.
Pressure hysteresis: A silicon
diaphragm on its own should be entirely
free from pressure hysteresis. It is essen-
tial, however, to isolate the diaphragm
as far as possible from any mechanical
joint or interface likely to exhibit
hysteresis. If the diaphragm is mounted
directly on to a silicon platelet or glass
tube the joint must be entirely free of
hysteresis, which is why gold eutectic
and ion migration bonding are preferred
to epoxy adhesive or glass frit.
Specifications for pressure hysteresis are
generally good.
Chemical, compatibility:. The diffused
face of a silicon transducer consists of
exposed silicon, silicon dioxide,
aluminium and gold. The undiffused
face is pure silicon. Any fluid contacting
the transducer directly must be noncon-
ducting and compatible with those
materials as well as any within the
mounting. If it is only possible to apply
the fluid to the undiffused face, the
nonlinearity will be worse. If neither face
is possible, the transducer must be pro-
tected by a gel or by a flexible separator
diaphragm with the volume between fill-
ed with an inert fluid, such as silicone
oil. Silicone oil must be filled under
vacuum because of the solubility of air,
Dr. Greenwood was formerly with Kent Process Control Ltd., Luton, Beds., and is now with
ERA Technology Ltd., Cleeve Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7SA, England
and its expansion with temperature will
complicate the performance.
Overload: As mentioned above, the
silicon diaphragm will withstand an
overpressure of two to five times full
scale range, depending on the safety
factor used. The overpressure limit may
instead be that at which the materials in
the mounting shift or break. For dif-
ferential pressure transmitters the
mounting must be designed such that the
zero does not shift under a high line
pressure the pressure and
temperature sensitivities are reasonably
independent of line pressure and the
device must be protected from acciden-
tal exposure to the line pressure on one
side only. Because of the small deflec-
tion of the diaphragm of the order of
micrometres it is not possible to build
in a mechanical stop to prevent it mov-
ing beyond a certain point. Overload
protection must be provided separately,
and this will greatly complicate the
mounting. Specifications for freedom
from radio-frequency interface or intrin-
sic safety will provide futher constraint.
Other factors affecting reliability:
Silicon pressure sensors are subject to
other problems common to micro-
electronic devices. Some should have
been detected at the wafer stage. Corro-
sion of the aluminium contact pads and
the detachment of wire bonds are,
however, noted as possible causes of
failure.
Conclusion
Silicon-diaphragm pressure sensors
are ideal for use
at pressures of 100 kPa and above ap-
plied in one direction only
for a temperature range not ex-
ceeding 50 K, say from 0 to 50C
with dry gases or nonconducting non-
corrosive fluids
for accuracies down to 0-25%.
The chips need individual electrical
testing and conditioning and their full
scale output will not be more than 3% of
the voltage applied.
Beyond these limits the user may have
to accept
lower output
degraded specification on linearity or
temperature
more complex electrical compen-
sating circuitry
overload protection
separator diaphragm
higher price.
Users must be particularly cautious of
the zero stability, notably after large
changes in temperature.
The author is grateful to Brown Boveri Kent Ltd.
and to ERA Technology Ltd. for permission to
publish this article.