Piezoelectric Sensors Operating at Very High Temperatures and in Extreme Environments Made of Flexible Ultrawide‐Bandgap Single‐Crystalline AlN Thin Films

Extreme environments are often faced in energy, transportation, aerospace, and defense applications and pose a technical challenge in sensing. Piezoelectric sensor based on single-crystalline AlN transducers is developed to address this challenge. The pressure sensor shows high sensitivities of 0.4-0.5 mV per psi up to 900 degrees C and output voltages from 73.3 to 143.2 mV for input gas pressure range of 50 to 200 psi at 800 degrees C. The sensitivity and output voltage also exhibit the dependence on temperature due to two origins. A decrease in elastic modulus (Young's modulus) of the diaphragm slightly enhances the sensitivity and the generation of free carriers degrades the voltage output beyond 800 degrees C, which also matches with theoretical estimation. The performance characteristics of the sensor are also compared with polycrystalline AlN and single-crystalline GaN thin films to investigate the importance of single crystallinity on the piezoelectric effect and bandgap energy-related free carrier generation in piezoelectric devices for high-temperature operation. The operation of the sensor at 900 degrees C is amongst the highest for pressure sensors and the inherent properties of AlN including chemical and thermal stability and radiation resistance indicate this approach offers a new solution for sensing in extreme environments.