Fabrication and characterization of magnetic composite membrane pressure sensor

Abstract

This paper describes a magnetic field powered pressure sensor, which comprises a coil array and a magnetic composite membrane. The composite membrane is made by embedding a ribbon of the amorphous soft magnetic alloy Vitrovac®, in a 17 mm x 25 mm x 1.5 mm Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. PDMS is chosen for its low Young's modulus and the amorphous alloy for its high permeability. The membrane is suspended 1.5 mm above a 17x19 array of microfabricated planar coils. The coils are fabricated by patterning a 620 nm thick gold layer. Each coil occupies an area of 36000 μm2 and consists of 14 turns. The sensor is tested by subjecting it to pressure and simultaneously exciting it by a 24 A/m, 100 kHz magnetic field. A pressure change from 0 kPa to 5.1 kPa, results in a 5400 ppm change in the voltage output.