Facing drift: A comparison of three methods

Drift is a common phenomenon in active sensors and, if left untreated, is generally the limiting factor in their performance. It is shown that drift and spread in sensor characteristics are tightly interwoven due to finite sensitivity to biasing parameters. Modern treatments of drift are dynamical under operating conditions, notably so chopping, the sensitivity variation method and the recently introduced van Putten-method. These methods differ in regards to drift-dependence on biasing. In their application to silicon flow sensors, the first two reduce but do not eliminate drift. The geometric van Putten-method leaves biasing invariant, which eliminates drift and obtains uniform sensor-characteristics leaving drift-free operation.