Differential pressure sensors based on transfer-free piezoresistive layered PdSe₂ thin films

Abstract

Piezoresistive layered two-dimensional (2D) crystals offer intriguing promise as pressure sensors for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) due to their remarkable strain-induced conductivity modulation. However, integration of the conventional chemical vapor deposition grown 2D thin films onto a micromachined silicon platform requires a complex transfer process, which degrades their strain-sensing performance. In this study, we present a differential pressure sensor built on a transfer-free piezoresistive PdSe2 polycrystalline film deposited on a SiNx membrane by plasma-enhanced selenization of a metal film at a temperature as low as 200 ℃. Based on the resistance change and finite element strain analysis of the film under membrane deflection, we show that a 7.9-nm-thick PdSe2 film has a gauge factor (GF) of − 43.3, which is ten times larger than that of polycrystalline silicon. The large GF enables the development of a diaphragm pressure sensor with a high sensitivity of 3.9 × 10−4 kPa−1 within the differential pressure range of 0 kPa to 60 kPa. In addition, the sensor with a Wheatstone bridge circuit achieves a high voltage sensitivity of 1.04 mV∙kPa−1, a rapid response time of less than 97 ms, and small output voltage variation of 8.1 mV in the temperature range of 25 °C to 55 °C. This transfer-free and low-temperature grown PdSe2 piezoresistive thin film is promising for MEMS transducer devices.