Downloaded from http://paperhub.

ir

Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sna

A micro-machined hydrophone employing a piezoelectric body

combined on the gate of a eld-effect transistor
Min Sung, Kumjae Shin, Wonkyu Moon
Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), PIRO 416, Jigokro 39, Namgu, Pohang, Kyungbuk790-834, South Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: We report a micro-machined hydrophone using piezoelectric gate on a eld-effect transistor (PiGoFET),
Received 17 August 2015 where a piezoelectric body is combined directly on the gate of a FET. The PiGoFET transduction mechanism
Received in revised form decouples the sensitivity from the dimensions of the piezoelectric body, enabling the miniaturization of
20 November 2015
hydrophones. Here we exploit the PiGoFET mechanism for hydrophone miniaturization, which is real-
Accepted 24 November 2015
ized via hybrid bonding integration to fabricate a micro-PiGoFET in a CMOS-compatible manner. The
Available online 27 November 2015
hybrid bonding integration employs separate wafers for the piezoelectric MEMS and CMOS processes,
which are combined via eutectic wafer bonding to complete the micro-PiGoFET device. A micro-PiGoFET
Keywords:
Piezoelectric gate on a eld-effect
hydrophone was designed, fabricated and characterized with a measured sensitivity of 191.5 dB 1 dB
transistor (PiGoFET) (Ref. V/Pa) for frequencies in the range 501000 Hz. These results demonstrate the potential for high-
Micro-hydrophone performance miniaturized hydrophone systems for wide-band and low-frequency applications, as well
CMOS-compatible hybrid integration as system-on-chip functionality.
Underwater acoustic sensor 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Low-frequency sound

1. Introduction piezo-body) [11], because the measured signal in response to the

Hydrophones are underwater acoustic receivers that serve as a
key component of sonar systems. The applications of hydrophones
are usually determined by the limits of the sensitivity, usable fre-
quency range, and size. Recently, emphasis has been placed on the
miniaturization of hydrophones [14] as the large size of conven-
tional hydrophones restricts the physical design of hydrophone
arrays that are used in most sonar systems [5,7].
A signicant reduction of the physical dimensions of
hydrophones with good receiver characteristics at low frequencies
(from several Hz to several tens of kHz) would facilitate a variety
of compact arrays such as vector sensor arrays [6] and towed
array sonar systems [7], as well as the applications for improved
autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), unmanned underwater
vehicles (UUVs) [6,8], and sonobuoys [9]. Furthermore, small
hydrophones are less prone to the effects of acoustic diffraction,
which is advantageous for precise measurements [5,10].
However, miniaturization of most conventional piezoelec-
tric hydrophones is limited by the loss of sensitivity and high
impedance at low frequencies. The sensitivity reduces with the
dimensions of the piezoelectric body (hereafter referred to as the
Corresponding author. Fax: +82 54 279 5899.
E-mail address: wkmoon@postech.ac.kr (W. Moon).
acoustic pressure is proportional to the voltage at the electrode,
which is in turn proportional to the integrated charge over the
surface of the piezo-body. High impedance at low frequencies of
the piezo-body leads to a low-frequency roll-off [12] and undesir-
able loss of signal due to the effect of parasitic impedances of the
extended signal line and interconnections [11,12,17].
Monolithic integration of a eld-effect transistor (FET) in close
proximity to piezoelectric materials has advantages for signal con-
ditioning and processing due to the early conversion of the signal
impedance into the low output impedance of the FET [1319].
Hydrophones that exploit monolithic integration of the FET near to
the piezoelectric polymer (typically either polyvinylidene uoride
(PVDF) or poly(vinylideneuoride-co-triuoroethylene) (PVDF-
TrFE)), referred to as piezoelectric oxide semiconductor FETs
(POSFETs), have been reported for ultrasonic applications [1317].
With POSFETs, the partially induced charge on the extended FET
gate (i.e., the parasitic capacitance between the extended FET
gate and substrate) results in a loss of sensitivity. Fabrication
techniques to reduce the parasitic capacitance have been devel-
oped [1517], and recently, a modied POSFET with P(VDF-TrFE)
patterned directly on the FET gate has been demonstrated for
touch-sensing applications [18,19]; however, the sensitivity was
not sufcient for acoustic-sensing applications.
Changes in the bound surface charge density, and correspond-
ing variation in the electric eld from the piezo-body, do not

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2015.11.025
0924-4247/ 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir
156 M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166
depend on the size of the piezo-body. In this paper, we describe
a micro-machined hydrophone in which the piezo-body is com-
bined directly on the gate of the FET (termed a piezoelectric gate
on a eld-effect transistor, PiGoFET). With the PiGoFET transduc-
tion mechanism, the sensitivity is decoupled from the dimensions
of the piezo-body, because the channel current of the FET is directly
modulated by the electric eld from the bound surface charge of
the piezo-body. An acoustic receiving thin plate on the piezo-body
of the PiGoFET is used as mechanical leverage to amplify the input
acoustic pressure, which allows the PiGoFET hydrophone to achieve
a high sensitivity using a small thin plate and a smaller piezo-body.
The feasibility of the PiGoFET mechanism for hydrophone appli-
cations has been demonstrated using a macroscale device as a
proof-of-concept [20]. In this work, a micro-PiGoFET hydrophone
is realized as a direct exploitation of the PiGoFET mechanism for
hydrophone miniaturization. Based on the dimensionless charac-
teristics of the PiGoFET, a miniaturized hydrophone device was
designed with micron-scale dimensions that can be fabricated
using a conventional micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)
and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrica-
tion processes.
Hybrid bonding integration was used to combine the piezo-
electric MEMS structure (i.e., piezo-body on a silicon thin plate)
with the CMOS device (i.e., FET) to fabricate the micro-PiGoFET.
Most piezoelectric materials in MEMS technology involve high tem-
peratures for deposition and crystallization, as well as elements
that are not compatible with standard CMOS fabrication [21]. The
piezoelectric MEMS and CMOS processes used in this work were
carried out with separate wafers, which were then combined using
eutectic wafer bonding at a low temperature without requiring
electrical activation [22]. This bonding approach completes the
micro-PiGoFET using reliable process technologies, while main-
taining a high level of CMOS-compatibility. These developments
thus provide scope to fabricate high-performance miniaturized
hydrophone systems with additional monolithically integrated
CMOS electronics (i.e., system-on-chip functionality), which can be
cost-effective via batch processing.
2. Design and operating principle
2.1. Operating principle
dV out dP pzb diDS dV out
=
dP i dP i dP pzb diDS
  
Aplate kplate /4
= |AcoustoMechanical
Apzb jZ total
Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the micro-PiGoFET
hydrophone. The micro-PiGoFET consists of a FET with a piezo-
body combined on the gate of the FET, which is compressed under
a pre-stressed acoustic receiving thin plate. The thin plate mechan-
ically amplies the acoustic input pressure onto the piezo-body to
provide high sensitivity, and also reduces the acoustic impedance
mismatch between the water and the piezo-body, since it can be
considerably more exible than the thickness-mode piezoelectric
ceramic body [23].
The operating principle of the PiGoFET transduction mechanism
is shown in Fig. 2(a). In response to a change in applied pressure
dPpzb , the change in the bound surface charge density dpzb at the
piezo-body directly results in a change in the vertical electric eld
dEox at the gate oxide, which modulates the channel and hence the
sourcedrain current diDS that ows with a given sourcedrain bias
VDS applied in the saturation regime of the FET [25,26]. Assuming
small-signal operation in the saturation regime of the FET, the sen-
sitivity of the PiGoFET transduction mechanism can be expressed
as follows:
diDS dpzb dEox diDS
= | | | (1)
dPpzb dPpzb Piezo-body dpzb FET gate dEox FET channel
where each term can be determined using the equivalent circuit
model shown in Fig. 2(b). The rst term describes the piezoelec-
tricity of the piezo-body in thickness direction; i.e., piezoelectric
constant d33 [5]. The second term describes the electric eld Eox
due to the areal density of the bound surface charge pzb , which can
be determined from the capacitance in piezo-body Cpzb , the capac-
itances between the gate and the substrate in channel area CGSub
[20], the gate and the drain CGD , and the gate and the source CGS
[25]. The nal term describes the operation of the FET, which can
be determined by relating the gate potential VG to the sourcedrain
current iDS following a square law [24,25].
Fig. 3 shows a dynamic lumped element model (LEM) of the
micro-PiGoFET hydrophone with a single degree of freedom (1-
DOF), in which the characteristic length is signicantly smaller than
a quarter wavelength of the input acoustic pressure (i.e., a  /4,
where a is the radius of the thin plate and  is the wavelength
of input acoustic pressure) [5]. The acoustic receiving thin plate
was supported by the piezo-body at the center and clamped at
the circular edge. The effective pressure amplication ratio via
the acoustic receiving thin plate (which is assumed to be much
larger than the piezo-body; i.e., Aplate  Apzb ) can be expressed
     
as Ppzb /Pi 1/4 Aplate /Apzb [20]. The maximum annular
eff
deection wmax of the thin plate, which occurs at r = 0.4508a, was
used as a reference coordinate; i.e., xplate = wmax |r=0.4508a .
The equivalent mass meff was determined from the rst-order
resonance of the axisymmetric annular mode of the thin plate [26]
and the stiffness of the thin plate kplate to obtain the mechanical
impedance Zm . The acoustic radiation impedance of the medium
Zr was calculated from the model for a circular piston [27]. The
backing impedance Zb was determined from the stiffness of the
back chamber volume [27] and the resistive impedance due to
squeeze-lm damping [28], where the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone
was assumed to have large backing holes with negligible effects
caused by the acoustic impedance of the holes [29]. Table I lists the
contributions to the impedances.
The overall sensitivity of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone can be
described as follows:
   (2)
diDS Current to voltage
Thin plate
|MechanoElectrical
PiGoFET
[Rf ] |IV converter
dP pzb
where Ztotal = Zm + Zr + Zb is the total impedance, and Vout is the
output voltage. The rst term in Eq. (2), dPpzb /dPi , describes the
mechanical pressure amplication from the dynamic input pres-
sure Pi to the pressure applied on the piezo-body ppzb with the
acoustic impedances discussed above. The second term, diDS /dPpzb ,
describes the PiGoFET transduction sensitivity, given in Eq. (1). The
nal term, dVout /diDS , is calculated from the resistance Rf of the
IV converter shown in Fig. 4; i.e., the measuring circuit designed
to convert the current signal of the PiGoFET into a voltage output
signal.
2.2. Design
2.2.1. Dimensionless design parameters
Using the sensitivity analysis described in the previous sec-
tion, the dimensionless characteristics of the micro-PiGoFET
hydrophone can be determined as follows. To calculate the sen-
sitivity of the PiGoFET transduction described in Eq. (1), since the
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166 157

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone. (Note that the diagram is not to scale).

Fig. 2. Cross-sectional schematic diagram of the PiGoFET. (a) The transduction mechanism, and (b) an equivalent circuit model of the PiGoFET, in which the piezo-body is
modeled as an open circuit charge source Qpzb |opencircuit that is connected in parallel with a clamped capacitance Cpzb |Clamped [5], where gm is the trans-conductance of a FET
with the width W in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the diagram.
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

158 M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram showing the 1-DOF LEM dynamic model of the PiGoFET hydrophone. (Note that the diagram is not to scale).

area of piezo-body Apzb was assumed to be almost identical to that of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone at frequencies well below the
of gate oxide Aox , and neglecting the overlap capacitances in CGD resonance can be described as follows:
and CGS , we can describe the sensitivity as follows:
dVout
   2  1
= /4 a/L pzb tox /ox tpzb + 5/3 Mi (4)
dPi
  where Mi is dened as the intrinsic sensitivity of the PiGoFET trans-
diDS W/L
(Vt n d33 ) (3) duction itself (i.e., without the geometrical effects), which depends
dPpzb pzb tox /ox tpzb + 5/3 only on the intrinsic parameters such as the fabrication conditions
of FET (i.e., Vt and n ), material properties (i.e., d33 ) and the mea-
suring circuit (i.e., Rf ); i.e.,
where ox and pzb are the permittivities of the gate oxide and piezo- Mi = (Vt n d33 ) Rf (5)
body, respectively; tpzb and tox are the respective thicknesses of the
piezo-body and gate oxide; and L is the length and W is the width The values of Mi are in the range 260 dB to 220 dB
of the gate oxide and the piezo-body. The threshold voltage Vt and (Ref. V/Pa), assuming typical piezoelectric constants d33 (pC/N)
channel mobility n depend on the fabrication conditions of the in thin lm piezoelectric materials (i.e., 3.9 for aluminum nitride
FET. (AlN) [21], 5.9 for zinc oxide (ZnO) [21], and 85130 for lead zir-
Using the mechanical pressure amplication of the thin plate of conate titnate (PZT) [30]), and based on the fabrication conditions
area Aplate = a2 and the piezo-body of area Apzb = LW, the sensitivity of typical CMOS technologies [1618,24,33]; i.e., Vt in (0.5 1) V,

Table I
The contributions to the impedance of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone.

Impedance Component Description

Mechanical meff Effective mass of the thin plate in annular mode.

impedance
Zm =
keff
 

Effective stiffness of the thin plate and the piezo-body
 1  1 1
R keff = 3/4 kplate + 1/4 kplate + kpzb
m +  ,
j meff keff / where
kplate is the stiffness of the thin plate calculated from the maximum static deection at r = 0.4508a with an input force
Fi = Pi Aplate , Pi is the input pressure, kpzb is the stiffness of the piezo-body in thickness direction, a and Aplate are the
radius and area of the thin plate, respectively.
1 1/2
Rm Rm = Qm (meff keff ) ,
where Qm is the mechanical quality factor at resonance in vacuum.
Radiation Rr 
Based on the radiation 
impedance
2J1 (2ka)
model for a circular piston [27],
impedance Rr = 0 cAplate 1 ,
2ka
Zr = where J1 (x) is the rst-order Bessel function, 0 is the density, c is the speed of sound of the medium, and k is the
Rr + wavenumber.
jXr 
2H1 (2ka)
Xr Xr = 0 cAplate 2ka
,
where H1 (x) is the Struve function [27].
Backing Rb 
Based on the squeeze-lm
12Aplate 2
model [28],
damping
ln
impedance Rb = 3
3
ntgap 2 8 4 8
Zb =
Rb where  is the viscosity of air, n is the density of holes in backplate, tgap is the air-gap distance between the thin plate
jXb / and the backplate, and is the surface fraction occupied by holes in the backplate.
Xb Xb = 0 c 2 Aplate 2 /Vbc .
The backing stiffness was determined by the volume of the back chamber Vbc [27].
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166 159

Fig. 4. Conguration of the measuring circuit (IV converter) of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone.

n in 0.020.06 m2 /Vs. The calculated values of Mi are comparable
to the reported data for POSFET devices [1319], which suggests
that the arrangement and design of POSFETs may not be sufcient
for acoustic-sensing applications.
Based on the intrinsic sensitivity Mi , we calculate that the
enhancement of the sensitivity via the geometrical design with the
dimensionless design parameters should be in the range 3050 dB
to reach the sensitivity suitable for hydrophone applications. To
achieve such a signicant sensitivity enhancement, a large trans-
verse ratio for pressure amplication (i.e., a/L) is required, as well
as a large ratio of the thickness of the piezo-body to the thick-
ness of the gate oxide (i.e., tpzb /tox ). Therefore, to minimize a and
tpzb for miniaturization of the sensor, L and tox should be of the
order of a few microns, which requires the use of micro-fabrication
technology for the micro-PiGoFET.
2.2.2. Design for miniaturization
Fig. 5(a) shows the dependence of the sensitivity on the main
dimensionless design parameters; i.e., a/L (shown by the red plot)
and tpzb /tox (shown by the blue plot). The dependence saturated
to some extent in the x -axis at approximately 20 < a/L < 30, and
in the y -axis at approximately 60 < tpzb /tox < 100, as shown by the
green plot. The dimensionless design parameters at the central
part of the considered xy region were determined to provide an
enhancement of +39.2 dB, as shown by red dot in Fig. 5(a).
The diameter of the acoustic receiving thin plate was 2a = 2 mm,
which is approximately 1/10 of the size of existing commercially
available miniature hydrophones [31,32]. Using the design param-
eter a/L = 25, the length of the piezo-body and gate oxide was
calculated to be L = 40 m, and the width was determined to pro-
vide symmetry; i.e., W = L . The gate oxide thickness was tox = 30 nm,
which provides gate insulation with no tunneling effects with typ-
ical CMOS fabrication [33]. With the resulting design parameter
tpzb /tox = 83.3, the thickness of piezo-body was determined to be
2.5 m, which can be achieved using the piezoelectric thin-lm
fabrication process [21,30].
Fig. 5(b) shows the simulated frequency response of the micro-
PiGoFET hydrophone with the assumed piezoelectric constant of
PZT [30] (i.e., d33 = 85 pC/N), and CMOS fabrication condition of FET
[20] (i.e., Vt = 1.1719 V, n = 0.0606 m2 /V s) used in this work. In
the low-frequency region, the simulated response does not exhibit
the roll-off problems that are typical of miniaturized piezoelectric
acoustic sensors [5,12]. This is due to the at frequency response
of the PiGoFET transduction mechanism at low frequencies, which
exploits the effects of electric eld from the bound surface charge.
The resonance frequency depends on the mass and stiffness of the
receiving thin plate, which can be fabricated with small radius a and
micron-scale thickness h to obtain a wideband frequency response,
as shown in Fig. 5(b). Table II lists the dimensions and parameters
of micro-PiGoFET hydrophone, considering the fabrication limits of

Table II
Dimensions and parameters of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone.

Part Notation Dimensions & values

Acoustic receiving thin Radius a 1 mm

plate (Si) Thickness h 15 m
Piezo-body (PZT) Length Lpzb 36 m
Width Wpzb 36 m
Thickness tpzb 2.5 m
Gate Length L 40 m
of Width W 38 m
the Gate oxide thickness tox 30 nm
FET Overlap length Lov 5 m
Thickness ratio of the PiGoFET tpzb /tox 83.3
Pressure amplication ratio a/L 25
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

160 M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166

Fig. 5. Simulation results showing the sensitivity and frequency response of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone. (a) Sensitivity analysis with the dimensionless parameters a/L
in x-axis and tpzb /tox in the y-axis. (b) The simulated frequency response with tpzb /tox = 83.3 and a/L = 25.

the piezoelectric MEMS and CMOS processes, which results in the 3. Fabrication
simulated sensitivity of 185.1 dB (Ref. V/Pa) with Mi = 224.3 dB
(Ref. V/Pa). 3.1. Micro-PiGoFET

3.1.1. Piezo-body on silicon thin plate

Fig. 6(a) shows the piezoelectric MEMS fabrication process used
to form the acoustic receiving thin plate with a microscale PZT
body at the center. A wet thermal oxidation was used to form a
2.2.3. IV converter
2.4-m-thick oxide layer on a 4-inch n -type silicon-on-insulator
Fig. 4 shows the design of the measuring circuit (i.e., the I
(SOI) wafer. A Pt/Ti layer was deposited using sputtering, followed
V converter). The sourcedrain voltage VDS is determined from
by a 2.5-m-thick PZT (Pb(Zr0.52 ,Ti0.48 )O3 ), which was deposited
the supply voltage VDD divided by the load resistor RL and the
using the sol-gel method [30]. A Pt layer was deposited on the PZT
sourcedrain resistance of FET. In response to input acoustic pres-
using e-beam evaporation to form a Pt/PZT/Pt/Ti stack, as shown
sure dPi , the signal current diDS ows in the feedback resistor Rf ,
in Step A2 . The PZT stack was then patterned via dry etching
resulting in the converted output voltage dVout = Rf diDS . The resis-
using standard photolithographic processes, as shown in Step A3,
tance Rf was determined to be 1 M, considering the magnitude of
followed by annealing at 650 C for 30 min to crystallize the PZT
the PiGoFET current signals and the signal-to-noise ratio of the cir-
and heal damage resulting from the dry etching process. An Au/Ti
cuit. A Texas Instruments OPA827 operational amplier (op-amp)
(300 nm/20 nm) stack was deposited via e-beam evaporation, and
was used, which had a wide bandwidth at low frequencies, includ-
patterned using lift-off to form the extended bottom-electrode of
ing audible frequencies. A coupling capacitor was located between
the PZT. The oxide layer in the region of the bonding pad was etched
the drain and the negative input of the op-amp, where the capaci-
to a depth of 2 m using buffered oxide etchant (BOE), leaving
tance Cc was chosen to satisfy RL  1/ (jCc ), and hence provide a
400 nm of oxide, as shown in Step A4 .
low cutoff frequency of 0.1 Hz.
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166 161

Fig. 6. The fabrication process of the micro-PiGoFET device. (a) Piezoelectric MEMS process used to form the PZT body on silicon thin plate. (b) CMOS process used to form
the FET. (c) Eutectic bonding, dicing, and release processes. (d) Photograph of the completed micro-PiGoFET device, and optical microscope images showing the internal
structure.
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

162 M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166

Fig. 6. (Continued).

To form the bonding pad, an Au/Sn/Au/Ni/Ti metal stack with the Ti layer was used to enhance the adhesion, Ni to form a dif-
a total thickness of 1.8 m was deposited sequentially using co- fusion barrier, Sn as the main bonding material, and the thin Au
evaporation, most of which was formed of Sn. In this metal stack, layer was used to prevent the oxidation of the Sn [22]. Lift-off was
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166 163

Fig. 7. Packaging of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone. The lower scheme shows the internal structure of the packaged micro-PiGoFET hydrophone that is shown in upper
photograph.

then used to pattern the bonding pad, as shown in Step A5 . Deep
trenches (20 m wide and 15 m deep) were etched from the front-
side (F/S) using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), as shown in Step
A6 . A 15-m-thick Si plate that was 2 mm in diameter was then
formed using back-side (B/S) DRIE, where a small circular step was
used to provide the uniform contact with the piezo-body on the FET
gate, as shown in Step A7 . The oxide layers in both F/S and B/S in
the region of the thin plate were removed, since asymmetric oxide
layers typically lead to severe pre-deection due to the residual
stresses [34]. In the same process step, through-silicon vias were
also formed using B/S DRIE to reveal the electrodes on the other
side (i.e., the FET wafer).
3.1.2. Field-effect transistor
Fig. 6(b) shows the CMOS fabrication process used to form the
FET. A 4-inch p-type SOI wafer with a resistivity of 510  cm was

Fig. 8. Underwater characterization set-up using a low-frequency waveguide [35]. Here Ch1 is the reference hydrophone shown by the black signal line, and Ch2 is the
micro-PiGoFET hydrophone shown by the red signal line. The signal line used to drive the low-frequency transmitter is shown in blue. (For interpretation of the references
to colour in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir
164 M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166
used, and a 500-nm-thick oxide layer was formed using wet ther-
mal oxidation, as shown in Step B2 . Phosphorous was implanted
at an energy of 20 k eV and areal density of 2 1012 cm2 to form
the channel of the depletion-mode FET, as shown in Step B3 . The
source and drain regions were dened by implanting phosphorous
at 80 k eV with a dose of 1 1015 cm2 , as shown in Step B4 . Body
doping was then carried out by implanting boron at 80 k eV with a
dose of 1 1015 cm2 . Following the successive doping and oxide
etching processes, the wafer was annealed at 1000 C for 20 s to
activate the dopants.
The native oxide over the gate was removed via wet etching
using BOE, followed by dry oxidation to obtain a 30-nm-thick gate
oxide dielectric, as shown in Step B5 . Contact vias were etched
using BOE, and an Au/Cr (150 nm/15 nm) metal stack was deposited
using sputtering. The metal stack was patterned to form the signal
electrodes using wet etching, and an Au/Ti (1.2 m/20 nm) metal
stack was deposited using co-evaporation in sequence, and pat-
terned using lift-off to form the bonding pad of the FET wafer, as
shown in Step B6 . F/S DRIE was used to form a trench, and B/S
DRIE was used to penetrate the Si to form backing holes, as shown
in Step B7 and Step B8, respectively.
3.1.3. Eutectic bonding and dicing
Fig. 6(c) shows the eutectic bonding, dicing, and release process.
The two completed wafers fabricated using piezoelectric MEMS
process (indicated as Part A) and the CMOS process (indicated as
Part B) were bonded using a eutectic process with intermetal-
lic AuSn compounds. The relative thickness of Au and Sn was
designed so that the Au-Sn compounds form a uniform alloy con-
sisting of 80-wt% Au and 20-wt% Sn [22].
A commercially available eutectic bonder (Applied Micro-
engineering Ltd., AWB-04) was used for the bonding process. In-situ
alignment was carried out using metal alignment markers on both
wafers, which were observed using an infrared (IR) microscopy
integrated with the bonder system, so that the piezo-body (PZT)
could be precisely aligned with gate of the FET. In the vacuum ambi-
ent, a load of 2 kN was applied to the upper tungsten base, using a
graphite sheet inserted between the wafer and the base to achieve
uniform pressure and provide good thermal contact for a uniform
temperature of 300 C during the bonding process. The difference
in the sum of layer thicknesses at the center of the thin plate and the
circumference for bonding pads was approximately 1.1 m, which
resulted in pre-stress in the Si thin plate on the compressed PZT by
the kinematic mechanism of the bonding process, as shown in Step
C1 . This facilitates linearity and stability of the sensor by achieving
the strong contact between the piezo-body and the FET gate with
stresses designed to be in a linear elastic regime.
The completed wafer was diced using protective UV-tape and
released as shown in Step C2 . Fig. 6(d) show a photograph of the
completed micro-PiGoFET device, as well as optical microscope
images showing the internal structure. The extended bottom-
electrode of PZT in Part A was connected using the bonding pads
A-I and B-I, which extend to the outer signal pads on Part B, and
grounded the top of the piezo-body. Bonding pads A-II and B-II
consist of the circumferential support of the sensor. On the back-
side of the device, the fan-shaped backing holes were fabricated to
minimize the undesirable acoustic impedances [28,29] in backing
structure.
3.2. Packaging
The fabricated micro-PiGoFET device was packaged as a
hydrophone for underwater experiments, as shown in Fig. 7. The
IV converter circuit used to measure the signal current of the sen-
sor was fabricated on a printed circuit board (PCB), which had
dimensions of 3 cm 1 cm. The micro-PiGoFET device chip was
mounted on the PCB, and the signal pads were connected using
Au wire bonding. The PCB with the sensor chip was installed in
a custom-built sensor body. The air-backing structure, where the
back cavity on the backside of the receiving thin plate in the micro-
PiGoFET was connected to the back chamber in PCB (4 mm in
diameter and 1.6 mm in depth) through the large backing holes, was
sealed using epoxy and adhesive lled with air. The sensor part was
isolated from the circuit of the PCB using epoxy, and output pads
were soldered to external multi-core shielded cable (Wilcoxon,
J9T4A). A silicone rubber cap with a large electrical conductivity
was used to shield external electromagnetic noise, while being
acoustically transparent. The inside of the sensor part was lled
with castor oil and sealed using epoxy for submerged operation.
4. Results
4.1. Underwater receiver characteristics
Fig. 8 shows the underwater experimental setup to measure
the receiver characteristics of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone
at low frequencies. A circular, acrylic waveguide [35] with a
low-frequency transmitter (Benthowave, BII-7534) was used to cal-
ibrate the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone using the planar standing
waves. Low-frequency cutoff occurred because of the properties of
the transmitter, and the high-frequency cutoff of the waveguide
occurred due to the radial mode [35], which restricted measure-
ments to the frequency range 501,000 Hz.
The micro-PiGoFET hydrophone and a reference hydrophone
(B&K 8103) were installed in similar measurement locations in the
waveguide with a xed separation of 1 cm. Using the reference
hydrophone in Channel 1 (Ch1), the acoustic pressure was mea-
sured, and the signal from the micro-PiGoFET in Channel 2 (Ch2)
was calibrated using the measured acoustic pressure.
Fig. 9(a) shows the sensitivity of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone
in response to swept frequencies in the range 501,000 Hz. We
found a sensitivity of 191.5 dB 1 dB (Ref. V/Pa) in the at region
with deviations within 4 dB near 220 Hz, 440 Hz, and 900 Hz. The
deviations in frequency response are attributed to the acoustic
effects of the waveguide, since similar artifacts occurred at different
frequencies with the different measurement locations.
Around nodes in the waveguide, the spatial gradient of the
acoustic pressure is steep [35], which restricts the calibration via
comparison. The deviations near 220 Hz and 440 Hz were attributed
to nodal effects, whereby a node occurred at the measurement
location. The wavelengths at 220 Hz and 440 Hz were calculated
from the effective speed of sound in the waveguide (measured
as 319 5 m/s), and correspond to the vertical distance between
the transmitter and the measurement location. The deviation near
900 Hz was attributed to the abrupt change in planarity in the wave-
front due to the radial mode, which was measured via horizontal
scanning for acoustic pressure.
The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured using the ref-
erence hydrophone and the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone; the two
datasets appeared almost identical, as shown in Fig. 9(b). Deep val-
leys near to 220 Hz and 440 Hz were observed, and were attributed
to nodal effects as discussed above. The peak near 900 Hz was
attributed to the radial mode of the waveguide. The fact that these
artifacts were observed for both sensors implies that they can be
attributed to the measurement set-up rather than the sensor.
Fig. 9(c) shows the relationship between the reference
hydrophone and the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone. A pure-tone sig-
nal was generated by the transmitter and detected by the reference
hydrophone and the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone simultaneously.
The harmonic signal was measured at each frequency, and the peak
magnitude is plotted in Fig. 9(c). The relationship was linear for SPL
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166 165

a The noise oor of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone was found

-150 to be comparable to that of the commercial reference (B&K 8103)
Sensitivity (dB, Ref. V/Pa)

hydrophone coupled with a charge amplier (B&K NEXUS 2692).

-160 Because the optimized signal conditioning circuitry is used in
-170 the charge amplier of the reference hydrophone, the micro-
PiGoFET hydrophone with a relatively simple IV converter may
-180 be considered to have a sensitivity that is suitable for hydrophone
applications. The IV converter circuit was used to transform the
-190
current signal of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone into a voltage sig-
-200 nal for calibration; however, there is scope for further optimization
of the signal conditioning in the measuring circuit to reduce the
-210
noise oor, increase the gain, and improve the ltering character-
-220 istics so that distortion is suppressed.
The simulated sensitivity of the micro-PiGoFET hydrophone was
-230
50 100 200 300 400 500 1000 185.1 dB (Ref. V/Pa), assuming the piezoelectric constant d33 of
the solgel PZT [30]. The difference of 6.4 dB between the simu-
Frequency (Hz)
b 180
lated and the measured sensitivity may be attributed to variations
in the piezoelectricity of the microscale piezo-body or to fabrica-
tion tolerances, such as imperfect contact between the piezo-body
170
and FET gate, non-ideal FET characteristics. This requires further
SPL (dB, Ref. Pa)

160 investigation to improve the performance of the sensor. In addition,

both the MEMS and CMOS fabrication processes used to form the
150
device have potential for further optimization, as does the eutectic
140 bonding process.

130
120
110 Measured by Ref. hydrophone
Measured by micro-PiGoFET hydrophone
100 5. Conclusion
50 100 200 300 400 500 1000
Frequency (Hz) We have demonstrated a micro-machined hydrophone using
c a piezoelectric gate on a eld-effect transistor (PiGoFET). A
3.5 microscale piezo-body was combined directly on the gate of a FET,
PiGoFET output voltage (mVpk)

with mechanical pressure amplication via a receiving plate so that

3 the sensitivity could be decoupled from the dimensions of the sen-
sor. A theoretical analysis of the dimensionless characteristics of the
2.5 PiGoFET was described, which showed that signicant improve-
100 Hz ments in the sensitivity could be achieved using a dimensionless
2 geometrical design, which overcomes the intrinsic sensitivity limits
200 Hz of the material properties and fabrication conditions. A micro-
1.5 PiGoFET hydrophone was designed and fabricated using hybrid
300 Hz
1 bonding integration employing separate wafers for the piezoelec-
352 Hz tric MEMS and CMOS processes, which were combined via eutectic
0.5 wafer bonding to complete the micro-PiGoFET device.
Trend The fabricated micro-PiGoFET hydrophone was found to have
0 sensitivity that was acceptable for underwater acoustic sens-
0 3 6 9 12 15 ing applications, with a noise oor that was comparable to that
Input pressure (Papk) of a commercially available reference hydrophone coupled with
a charge amplier. The measured sensitivity was lower than
Fig. 9. Characterization results. (a) Frequency response, (b) the measured sound that expected from simulations; however, the differences may
pressure level (SPL), and (c) the linearity. be attributed to variations in piezoelectricity of the microscale
piezo-body and to fabrication tolerances, which requires further
in the range 118 dB at 200 Hz to 141 dB at 352 Hz, which was the investigations to identify methods to improve the device perfor-
maximum SPL that could be generated using the transmitter. mance.
This work represents the direct exploitation of the PiGoFET
4.2. Discussion mechanism for hydrophone miniaturization. We have demon-
strated a micro-PiGoFET hydrophone with a simple IV converter
The micro-PiGoFET hydrophone using the PiGoFET transduc- that has scope for further optimization of the signal conditioning
tion mechanism was demonstrated as a miniaturized device. The and integration with sensors for low-noise operation. The hybrid
characterization results show acceptable performance as an under- bonding approach enables the integration of high-performance
water acoustic receiver in terms of the sensitivity, frequency materials and structures in the piezoelectric MEMS devices with
response and linearity. Considering the small size (i.e., 2 mm in standard CMOS processes without compromising the design of
diameter) of the sensor and extremely small size of the piezo- materials, structures, or CMOS circuitry. These developments are
body (i.e., 36 m (L) 36 m (W) 2.5 m (T)), the resulting device therefore expected to lead to high-performance miniaturized
exploits the dimensionless PiGoFET mechanism. hydrophone systems, as well as system-on-chip functionality.
 Downloaded from http://paperhub.ir

166 M. Sung et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 237 (2016) 155166

Acknowledgments
The authors thank Prof. Chungwol Kim of Andong University for
his advice in developing the measurement circuit for the exper-
iments. This research was supported primarily by the National
Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea gov-
ernment (MSIP; No. 2011-0030075), and partially by the Agency for
Defense Development (ADD) grant funded by the Defense Acquisi-
tion Program Administration (DAPA) of Korea (No. UD130017DD).
References
[2] J. Bernstein, S.L. Finberg, K. Houston, L.C. Niles, H.D. Chen, L.E. Cross, K.K. Li, K.
Udayakumar, Micromachined high frequency ferroelectric Sonar transducers,
IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 44 (5) (1997) 960969.
[3] H. Asanuma, S. Hashimoto, S. Tano, S. Takashima, M. Nishizawa, H. Niitsuma,
Y. Shindo, Development of ber-optical microsensors for geophysical use, 3rd
International Workshop on Scientic Use of Submarine Cables and Related
Technologies, Tokyo, Japan (2003).
[4] Z. Guojun, W. Panpan, G. Linggang, X. Jijun, Z. Wendong, Improvement of the
MEMS bionic vector hydrophone, Microelectron. J. 42 (5) (2011) 815819.
[5] C.H. Sherman, J.L. Butler, Transducers and Arrays for Underwater Sound,
Springer, New York, 2007 (Chapter 1, pp.117) (Chapter 2, pp.3173)
(Chapter 4, pp.152209) (Chapter 8, pp.384386; pp.551552).
[6] M. Asadnia, A.G.P. Kottapalli, Z. Shen, J. Miao, M. Triantafyllou, Flexible and
surface-mountable piezoelectric sensor arrays for underwater sensing in
marine vehicles, IEEE Sen. J. 13 (10) (2013) 39183925.
[7] M. Lasky, D. Richard Doolittle, B.D. Simmons, S.G. Lemon, Recent progress in
towed hydrophone array research, IEEE J. Oceanic Eng. 29 (2) (2004) 374387.
[8] W.J. Zehner, C.D. Loggins, Selection criteria for UUV sonar systems,
Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Unmanned Untethered
Submersible Technology (1989) 349358.
[9] L.E. Horsley, Modication and deployment techniques for hand-deployed
arctic long-life sonobuoys, IEEE J. Oceanic Eng. 14 (2) (1989) 211220.
[10] T. Huttunen, J.P. Kaipio, K. Hynynen, Modeling of anomalies due to
hydrophones in continuous-wave ultrasound elds, IEEE Trans. Ultrason.
Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 50 (11) (2003) 14861500.
[11] J.W. Young, Optimization of acoustic receiver noise performance, J. Acoust.
Soc. Am. 61 (6) (1977) 14711476.
[12] G. Gautschi, Piezoelectric Sensorics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2002,
pp. 209221 (Chapter 3, pp.1350) (Chapter 11, pp.209221).
[13] R.G. Swartz, J.D. Plummer, Integrated silicon-PVF2 acoustic transducer arrays,
IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 26 (12) (1979) 19211931.
[14] A.S. Fiorillo, J. Van Der Spiegel, P.E. Bloomeld, D.E. Zandi, A
P(VDF-TrFE)-based integrated ultrasonic transducer, Sensor Actuat. A-Phys.
22 (13) (1990) 719725.
[15] J.H. Mo, A.L. Robinson, D.W. Fitting, F.L. Terry Jr, P.L. Carson, Micromachining
for improvement of integrated ultrasonic transducer sensitivity, IEEE Trans.
Electron Dev. 37 (1) (1990) 134140.
[16] X.R. Zheng, P.T. Lai, B.Y. Liu, B. Li, Y.C. Cheng, An integrated PVDF ultrasonic
sensor with improved sensitivity using polyimide, Sensor Actuat. APhys. 63
(2) (1997) 147152.
[17] B. Zhu, V.K. Varadan, Integrated MOSFET based hydrophone device for
underwater application, Proceeding SPIE 4700, Smart Structures and
Materials: Smart Electronics, MEMS, and Nanotechnology (2002) 101110.
[18] A. Adami, R.S. Dahiya, C. Collini, D. Cattin, L. Lorenzelli, POSFET touch sensor
with CMOS integrated signal conditioning electronics, Sensor Actuat. A-Phys.
188 (2012) 7581.
[19] R.S. Dahiya, A. Adami, C. Collini, L. Lorenzelli, POSFET tactile sensing arrays
using CMOS technology, Sensor Actuat. A-Phys. 202 (2013) 226232.
[20] M. Sung, K. Shin, W. Moon, A new transduction mechanism for hydrophones
employing piezoelectricity and a eld-effect transistor, Sensor Actuat. A-Phys.
233 (2015) 557568.
[21] S. Tadigadapa, K. Mateti, Piezoelectric MEMS sensors: state-of-the-art and
perspectives, Meas. Sci. Technol. 20 (9) (2009) 130.
[22] Q. Wang, S. Choa, W. Kim, J. Hwang, S. Ham, C. Moon, Application of Au-Sn
eutectic bonding in hermetic radio-frequency microelectromechanical
system wafer level packaging, J. Electron Mater. 35 (3) (2006) 425432.
[23] H. Lee, D. Kang, W. Moon, A micro-machined source transducer for a
parametric array in air, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125 (4) (2009) 18791893.
[24] A.S. Sedra, K.C. Smith, Microelectronic Circuits, Fifth ed., Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 2004 (Chapter 4, pp.235325).
[25] Y. Tsividis, Operation and Modeling of the MOS Transistor, Second ed., Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1999 (Chapter 8, pp.384397).
[26] R.D. Blevins, Formulas for Natural Frequency and Mode Shape, Krieger
Publishing Company, Florida, 1979 (Chapter 11, pp.239252).
[27] L.E. Kinsler, A.R. Frey, A.B. Coppens, J.V. Sanders, Fundamental of Acoustics,
Fourth ed, JohnWiley & Sons, Inc, 2000 (Chapter 7, pp.179188) (Chapter 10,
pp.284288).
[28] M. Andrews, I. Harris, G. Turner, A comparison of squeeze-lm theory with
measurements on a microstructure, Sensor Actuat. A-Phys. 36 (1) (1993)
7987.
[29] J. Chen, Y. Hsu, S. Lee, T. Mukherjee, G.K. Fedder, Modeling and simulation of a
condenser microphone, Sensor Actuat. APhys. 145146 (2008) 230224.
[30] N. Ledermann, P. Muralt, J. Baborowski, S. Gentil, K. Mukati, M. Cantoni, A.
Seifert, N. Setter, {1 0 0}-Textured, piezoelectric Pb(Zrx, Ti -x)O3 thin lms for
MEMS: integration, deposition and properties, Sensor Actuat. A-Phys. 105 (2)
(2003) 162170.
[31] Brel & Kjr, B&K Product Data sheet (Model: B&K 8103), retrieved from:
<http://www.bksv.com/Products/transducers/acoustic/hydrophones/>
(09.05.12) (2012).
[32] Teledyne Reson, Teledyne Reson Product Data sheet (Model: TC4013),
retrieved from: <http://www.teledyne-reson.com/product/tc-4013/>
(18.11.14) (2014).
[33] M. Hirose, M. Koh, W. Mizubayashi, H. Murakami, K. Shibahara, S. Miyazaki,
Fundamental limit of gate oxide thickness scaling in advanced MOSFETs,
Semicond. Sci. Technol. 15 (5) (2000) 485490.
[34] S. Lee, T. Tanaka, K. Inoue, Residual stress inuences on the sensitivity of
ultrasonic sensor having composite membrane structure, Sensor Actuat.
A-Phys. 125 (2) (2006) 242248.
[35] K.J. Bastyr, G.C. Lauchle, J.A. McConnell, Development of a velocity gradient
underwater acoustic intensity sensor, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106 (6) (1999)
31783188.
Biographies
Min Sung received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineer-
ing from Pohang University of Science and Technology
(POSTECH) in 2007, and is currently enrolled in the
integrated Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering at
POSTECH. His main research activities concern the model-
ing and design of acoustic transducers, focusing on MEMS
piezoelectric sensors and FET-based sensors integrated
with piezoelectricity. His research interests include the
design and fabrication of MEMS acoustic devices based on
PZT thick lm.
Kumjae Shin received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering
from Hanyang University in 2007. He is currently enrolled
in the integrated Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering
at POSTECH. His research activities include the design and
fabrication of FET-based transducers for scanning probe
microscopy (SPM) and acoustic sensor applications, focus-
ing on MEMS microphones. His research interests involve
the design and fabrication of electrets and FETs for MEMS
acoustic/vibration devices.
Wonkyu Moon received his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineer-
ing from Seoul National University in 1984 and a M.Sc.
from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Tech-
nology in 1986. He received a Ph.D. from the University
of Texas, Austin, in 1995. In 1996, he joined the Samsung
Advanced Institute of Technology, where he researched
micro-actuators and the application of SPM technology to
data storage devices. Since joining POSTECH in 1998, his
research has been on electromechanical transducers for
acoustic and nano-positioning applications, the develop-
ment of new electromechanical transducers and analysis
tools for improving their design including advanced trans-
duction materials.

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)