Fluidic Sensor Realized in the LTCC Technology

This paper proposes a fully embedded LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Technology) fluidic sensor based on capacitive effect. The proposed capacitive fluidic sensor is built up by ten laser machined ceramic tape layers carrying holes and a micro-channel. The micro-channel is placed between capacitor electrodes which are screen printed and embedded inside the substrate. The operating principle of this sensor is based on the measurement of capacitance variations evoked with different permittivity values of induced fluids. By inserting various fluids in the micro-channel, capacitance of the sensor changes according to different permittivity values. Detection of various fluids has been performed. Experimentally attained results are compared with electrical characteristics determined by analytical calculations and good agreement is achieved.