A novel evolutionary method for parameter-free MEMS structural design and its application in piezoresistive pressure sensors

Abstract In this paper, a novel simulation-based evolutionary method is presented for designing parameter-free MEMS structures with maximum degrees of freedom. This novel design method enabled semiautomatic structure evolution by weighing the attributes of each segment of the structure and yielded an optimal design after multiple iterations. The proposed method was utilized to optimize the pressure-sensitive diaphragm of a piezoresistive pressure sensor (PPS). Finite element method (FEM) simulations revealed that, in comparison to conventional diaphragms without islands and with square islands, the optimized diaphragm increased the stress by 10% and 16% and reduced the nonlinearity by 57% and 77%, respectively. These improvements demonstrate the value of this method. Characterization of the fabricated PPS revealed a high sensitivity of 8.8 mV V−1 MPa−1 and a low nonlinearity of 0.058% FS at 20 °C, indicating excellent sensor performance.