Dual-Mode Solidly Mounted Resonator-Based Sensor for Temperature and Humidity Detection and Discrimination

Sensors based on solidly mounted resonators (SMRs) exhibit a good set of properties, such as high sensitivity, fast response, low resolution limit and low production cost, which makes them an appealing technology for sensing applications. However, they can suffer from cross-sensitivity issues, as their response can be altered by undesirable ambient factors, such as temperature and humidity variations. In this work we propose a method to discriminate humidity variations from the general frequency response using an SMR specifically manufactured to operate in a dual-mode (displaying two close resonances). The two modes behave similarly towards humidity changes (-1.94 kHZ/(%RH)) for resonance one and -1.62 kHZ/(%RH) for resonance two), whereas their performance under temperature changes is significantly different, displaying 2.64 kHZ/degrees C for resonance one and 34.21 kHZ/degrees C for resonance two. This allows for the decoupling process to be carried out in a straightforward manner. Frequency response is tracked under different humidity conditions, in the -20 degrees C to room temperature region, proving that this behavior is reproducible in any given environment.