Physical Sensors & Devices

Research that includes:

  • Silicon MEMS actuators: comb, electro-thermal, and plastic deformation
  • Precision electronic sensing and measurements of capacitive, frequency, and coulombic MEMS variables
  • Structures and architectures for gyroscopes, accelerometers, micro strain gauges for direct application to rigid structures e.g., steel, and levitated MEMS

Hyong Min Kim

Graduate Student Researcher
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Professor Ali Javey (Advisor)
Ph.D. 2028 (Anticipated)

Hyong is a Ph.D. student in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at University of California, Berkeley. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Univeristy of Pennsylvania in 2023. In his undergraduate research, Hyong studied quantum emission from strained 2D materials, ferroelectric field-emission transistors based on AlScN/2D material heterostructures, and scanning probe characterization of 1D-2D material interfaces. Hyong's current research at Berkeley is on fabricating next-generation Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR) optoelectronic devices...

BPN983: Materials and Devices for Bright UV LEDs

Shu Wang
2023

Wide band gap semiconductors are crucial for applications in power electronics, displays, solid-state lightning and many other fields. Due to their intrinsic structure and electronic properties, many wide band gap semiconductors can not be intentionally doped as desired, which limits their role in electronic and optoelectronic devices. In this project, we propose tuning the optoelectronic properties of wide band gap semiconductors electrically to enhance its luminescence efficiency.

Project ended: 02/07/2024

BPN965: Phonon Protected Superconducting Qubits

Mutasem Odeh
Kadircan Godeneli
2023

Superconducting quantum circuits are leading candidates for quantum computing. Scaling up these systems for practical applications will require compact coherent qubits that store the quantum states, high fidelity quantum gates that process them, and a scalable architecture that can accommodate complex error correction circuits. Meeting such requirements is mainly impeded by the unavoidable presence of two-level systems (TLS), which act as a decoherence source that results in the loss of quantum information via phonon emission. In this project, we engineer superconducting circuits...

Jun-Chau Chien

Professor
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center (BSAC)

Jun-Chau Chien is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Co-Director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center (BSAC). His research focuses on analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits, bioelectronics, and RF/mmWave high-speed ICs. He is also interested in biosensor designs, molecular engineering, and techniques to couple semiconductor technologies with advanced biotechnologies for new platform development.

Prior to joining BSAC, Professor Chien was an Assistant Professor at National...

BPN920: Robust, Multimodal Sweat Sensors with High-Throughput Fabrication

Noelle Davis
Ashwin Aggarwal
Sorour Darvishi
2023

In the field of sweat monitoring, many sensors have been piloted with one or two subjects over limited periods of time, but there is a need for prolonged, large-scale studies to establish reliable physiological correlations that account for diverse subjects, activities, and environments. Chemical sensors provide the concentration of analytes of interest, including sodium, potassium, and glucose, while sweat rate sensors provide standalone information on nerve function and hydration. Monitoring both of these in parallel will enable the decoding of concentrations of analytes that are...

BPN946: Sensor for Natural Sweat Analysis

Sorour Darvishi
2023

Wearable sweat sensors have emerged as attractive platforms for non-invasive health monitoring. While most sweat sensors have relied on exercise or chemical stimulation to generate sweat, natural thermoregulatory sweat is an attractive alternative as it can be accessed during routine and even sedentary activity without impeding user lifestyles, while also potentially preserving correlations between sweat and blood biomarkers. For rapid accumulation of natural sweat that enables quick, single-point measurement of sweat analytes, we develop a simple, skin-attachable sensing platform to...

BPN979: Developing Sweat Rate Sensors Using New Sensing Modalities

Ashwin Aggarwal
Manik Dautta
Luis Fernando
Ayala Cardona
2023

The skin surface naturally secretes sweat for thermoregulation during sedentary and physical activities at varying rates, which can sometimes indicate underlying health conditions such as nerve damages or metabolic disorders. As measuring low secretion rates poses a challenge for traditional microfluidic devices, we present new ways to collect such sweat rates precisely.

Project ended: 08/01/2023

BPN753: Ratio-Metric Readout Technique for MEMS Gyroscopes with Force Feedback

Burak Eminoglu
Igor I. Izyumin
Yu-Ching Yeh
2014

Scale factor accuracy is critical for navigation grade gyroscopes. Traditional MEMS vibratory gyroscopes with force feedback provide good resolution, but their scale factor depends on a plethora of parameters including proof mass bias voltage, drive mode velocity,dimensions of the forcer electrodes,and mass. This project develops a ratio-metric readout technique for force feedback gyroscopes that provides a precise scale factor. Scale factor variations over 12 days are reduced from 547ppm p-p to 23ppm p-p, and temperature coefficient of the scale factor is reduced from 560ppm/C to...

BPN467: Aluminum Nitride Ultrasonic Doppler Velocity Sensor

Stefon E. Shelton
Hongsoo Choi
2009

The goal of this project is to develop a high precision MEMS ultrasonic Doppler velocity sensor utilizing an array of Aluminum Nitride transducer elements for use in personal navigation units. Aluminum Nitride has been chosen for its desirable piezoelectric properties and compatibility with CMOS processes which allows for on chip integration of MEMS and electronics. In our device we aim to produce an ultrasound source-receiver pair with integrated signal processing circuitry on a single chip. To determine the velocity we will be developing and implementing an efficient and accurate...

BPN962: Insect-Scale Flying Robots

Fanping Sui
Kamyar Behrouzi
Wei Yue
2022

Insect-scale untethered flight with maneuverability is very challenging toward possible practical applications and attitude-stabilized flight (hovering) is one of the first steps for long-time air flight operations. In this project, we introduce the insect-scale, untethered, rotating-wing aerial vehicles with inherent stability by the gyroscopic effect to achieve several key advancements: (1) powered by alternating magnetic fields wirelessly; (2) 160-mg in weight and 20.0-mm-in-diameter in size – smallest untethered flying robot in the world; and (3) attitude-stabilized flights (...