Signal-Processing Electronics for a Capacitive Micro-Sensor

An interface circuit in a 0.8-mm CMOS process for the on-chip integration of a capacitive micro-sensor used as a microphone is presented. In order to circumvent 1/f noise contributions and to improve the signal/noise ratio, a synchronous modulation-demodulation technique has been applied. For the implementation of this technique, we have studied and designed several functional block, such as modulator with signal conversion, low-noise amplifier, demodulator, etc. To deal with problems related to dispersions of intrinsic capacitance of the sensor, a feedback compensating solution is suggested. The designed circuit has a sensibility of 1200 V/pF, with a minimum detectable capacitance variation of 2\ 10^{-6} pF.