GaN Pressure Sensor
The GaN pressure sensor technology can bring enormous benefits to various market segments: resistant to high temperature, ultra-high sensitivity, extremely low power consumption.
The Problem
The incumbent Si MEMS pressure sensor has inherent imperfections as its temperature dependence of resistivity and piezoresistive coefficient leads to an obvious shift both in the sensor zero-offset and measurement sensitivity at higher temperatures (>125ºC). This is because at higher temperatures, the thermal carrier generation in Si increases very significantly. The thermally generated unwanted carriers contribute to thermal noise which degrades the performance of devices. Additionally, the piezoresistive Si sensors suffer from low sensitivity, which is further sacrificed in many high temperature designs, making it very unattractive for high temperature operations.
The Solution
In contrast to Si, wide bandgap semiconductors the thermal generation is much lower, so they are inherently capable of operating at higher temperatures. Additionally, due to the strong piezoelectric properties, the sensitivity of these sensors are orders of magnitude higher than those based on Si. Finally, the piezo-transistive sensor configuration leads to ultra-high sensitivity and extremely low power consumption, attainable simultaneously.
The Unique Advantages
The GaN pressure sensor technology, can bring enormous benefits to various market segments such as:
The Market
Pressure Sensor Market = $20B (2025)
Earthquake Detector Market and Earthquake Sensor Market = $2.2B (2030)