• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2010

This paper presents a low noise CMOS regulator for a low power capacitive sensor interface in a $0.5{\mu}m$ CMOS standard technology. Proposed LDO regulator circuit consist of a voltage reference block, an error amplifier and a new buffer between error amplifier and pass transistor for a good output stability. Conventional source follower buffer structure is simple, but has a narrow output swing and a low S/N ratio. In this paper, we use a 2-stage wide band OTA instead of source follower structure for a buffer. From SPICE simulation results, we got 0.8 % line regulation and 0.18 % load regulation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.78-81
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• 2004

A technical performance of the coating depends greatly on the thickness of painting film or coating film. Therefore the confirmed report of the technique to measure accurately is essential to the coating film thickness for the assessment about a coating quality performance. In this paper, two gap sensors - eddy current gap sensor and capacitance gap sensor - which has a different operating principle were used to measure the thickness of a nonmagnetic substance coating film such as paint, enamel or ceramic that was coated on the metallic material. A capacitance gap sensor was used to measure the distance between the sensor head and a coating film and an eddy current gap sensor to measure the distance between the sensor head and a base metal. Then the thickness of a coating film was obtained by the difference of two measurement value. At this result, the suggested dual sensor can measure an arbitrary film thickness to be coated on a base metal as the measurement value of coating thickness exists accurately within the 2％ error.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.326-331
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• 2014

In this study, a MEMS microphone that uses $Si_3N_4$ as the vibration membrane was produced for application as an auditory device using a sound visualization technique (sound visualization) for the hearing impaired. Two sheets of 6-inch silicon wafer were each fabricated into a vibration membrane and back plate, after which, wafer bonding was performed. A certain amount of charge was created between the bonded vibration membrane and the back plate electrodes, and a MEMS microphone that functioned through the capacitive method that uses change in such charge was fabricated. In order to evaluate the characteristics of the prepared MEMS microphone, the frequency flatness, frequency response, properties of phase between samples, and directivity according to the direction of sound source were analyzed. The MEMS microphone showed excellent flatness per frequency in the audio frequency (100 Hz-10 kHz) and a high response of at least -42 dB (sound pressure level). Further, a stable differential phase between the samples of within -3 dB was observed between 100 Hz-6 kHz. In particular, excellent omnidirectional properties were demonstrated in the frequency range of 125 Hz-4 kHz.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1601-1623
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• 2015

Electroactive polymers have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their sensing and actuating properties which make them a material of choice for a wide range of applications including sensors, biomimetic robots, and biomedical micro devices. This paper presents an effective modeling strategy for nonlinear large deformation (small strains and moderate rotations) dynamic analysis of polymer actuators. Considering that the complicated electro-chemo-mechanical dynamics of these actuators is a drawback for their application in functional devices, establishing a mathematical model which can effectively predict the actuator's dynamic behavior can be of paramount importance. To effectively predict the actuator's dynamic behavior, a comprehensive mathematical model is proposed correlating the input voltage and the output bending displacement of polymer actuators. The proposed model, which is based on the rigid finite element (RFE) method, consists of two parts, namely electrical and mechanical models. The former is comprised of a ladder network of discrete resistive-capacitive components similar to the network used to model transmission lines, while the latter describes the actuator as a system of rigid links connected by spring-damping elements (sdes). Both electrical and mechanical components are validated through experimental results.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2005

In order to improve the reliability of high voltage rotating machines and mold transformers, it is necessary to understand the breakdown mechanism and life assessment of the high voltage winding parts. Especially the on-line PD test provides the ability to monitor effects, such as slot discharge, internal discharge, and end-winding discharge without interrupting the electrical machines, this method has been proven the major testing technology. Capacitive couplers have been the most widely used sensors for the on-line partial discharge detection in rotating machines nowadays. This paper deals with the electrical characteristics and long-term reliability of a ceramic coupler(CC), which can be easily mounted into high voltage input terminal part, has been developed and tested to continuously measure PD activity during operating condition. This paper presents electrical characteristics (dielectric loss angle, capacitance, PD inception level, breakdown voltage, and frequency response bandwidth) and long-term life test result of the developed 6.6 kV class on-line ceramic coupling sensor. It was found that this sensor had good electrical characteristics to detect PD activity during the operating condition with its detection frequency band is between several and several tens MHz. Also, the voltage life of the 6.6kV class ceramic coupler was calculated over 60 years.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.864-870
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• 2010

Air embolism can be a lethal complication of surgical procedures during which venous pressure at the site of surgery is sub-atmospheric or air is forced under pressure into a body cavity. To solve the problem, we developed the air detector using relative dielectric constant change, which is expected to be used broadly in industrial circles. We designed air detection system with air control equipment, detection circuit and LabVIEW system for air sensing. In experiments with a mock system, the proposed system showed a signal difference depending on the amount of air in the Tygon tube of the mock system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.756-760
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• 2011

This paper proposed an alignment stage driven by piezo actuators for alignment process of a contact-type lithography. Among contact-type lithography processes, an UV-curable nanoimprint process is an unique process to be able to align patterns on upper and lower layers. An alignment stage of the UV-curable nanoimprint process requires nano-level resolution as well as high stiffness to overcome friction force due to contact moving. In this paper, the alignment stage consists of a compliant mechanism using flexure hinges, piezo actuators for high force generation, and capacitive sensors for high-resolution measurement. The compliant mechanism is implemented by four prismatic-prismatic compliant chains for two degree-of-freedom translations. The compliant mechanism is composed of flexure hinges with high stiffness, and it is directly actuated by the piezo actuators which increases the stiffness of the mechanism, also. The performance of the ultra-precision stage is demonstrated by experiments.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.342-347
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• 2017

We present a precision instrument amplifier (IA) designed for bio-potential acquisition. The proposed IA employs a capacitively coupled instrument amplifier (CCIA) structure to achieve a rail-to-rail input common-mode range and low gain error. A positive feedback loop is applied to boost the input impedance. Also, DC servo loop (DSL) with pseudo resistors is adopted to suppress electrode offset for bio-potential sensing. The proposed amplifier was designed in a $0.18{\mu}m$ CMOS technology with 1.8V supply voltage. Simulation results show the integrated noise of $1.276{\mu}Vrms$ in a frequency range from 0.01 Hz to 1 KHz, 65dB SNR, 118dB CMRR, and $58M{\Omega}$ input impedance respectively. The total current of IA is $38{\mu}A$. It occupies $740{\mu}m$ by $1300{\mu}m$ including the passive on-chip low pass filter.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.733-740
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• 2014

A resistive micro Pirani gauge using amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin membrane is proposed. The proposed Pirani gauge can be easily integrated with the other process-compatible membrane-type sensors, and can be applicable for in-situ vacuum monitoring inside the vacuum package without an additional process. The vacuum level is measured by the resistance changes of the membrane using the low noise correlated double sampling (CDS) capacitive trans-impedance amplifier (CTIA). The measured vacuum range of the Pirani gauge is 0.1 to 10 Torr. The sensitivity and non-linearity are measured to be 78 mV / Torr and 0.5% in the pressure range of 0.1 to 10 Torr. The output noise level is measured to be $268{\mu}V_{rms}$ in 0.5 Hz to 50 Hz, which is 41.2% smaller than conventional CTIA.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2019

This paper presents an air flow sensor (AFS) based on a polymer thin film. This AFS primarily consists of a polymer membrane attached to a metal-patterned glass substrate and a temperature-sensing element composed of NiCr. These two components were integrated on a single glass substrate. The AFS measures changes in capacitance caused by deformation of the polymer membrane based on the air flow and simultaneously detects the temperature of the surrounding environment. A readout integrated circuit (ROIC) was also fabricated for signal processing, and an ROIC chip, 1.8 mm by 1.9 mm in size, was packaged with an AFS in the form of a system-in-package module. The total size of the AFS is 1 by 1 cm, and the diameter and thickness of the circular-shaped polymer membrane are 4 mm and $15{\mu}m$, respectively. The rate of change of the capacitance is approximately 11.2% for air flows ranging between 0 and 40 m/s.