A scalable pressure sensor based on an electrothermally and electrostatically operated resonator
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ArticleDate
2017-11-29Online Publication Date
2017-11-29Print Publication Date
2017-11-27Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/626366
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We present a pressure sensor based on the convective cooling of the air surrounding an electrothermally heated resonant bridge. Unlike conventional pressure sensors that rely on diaphragm deformation in response to pressure, the sensor does not require diaphragms of the large surface area, and hence is scalable and can be realized even at the nanoscale. The concept is demonstrated using both straight and arch microbeam resonators driven and sensed electrostatically. The change in the surrounding pressure is shown to be accurately tracked by monitoring the change in the resonance frequency of the structure. The sensitivity of the sensor, which is controllable by the applied electrothermal load, is shown near 57 811 ppm/mbar for a pressure range from 1 to 10 Torr. We show that a straight beam operated near the buckling threshold leads to the maximum sensitivity of the device. The experimental data and simulation results, based on a multi-physics finite element model, demonstrate the feasibility and simplicity of the pressure sensor. Published by AIP Publishing.Citation
Hajjaj AZ, Alcheikh N, Hafiz MAA, Ilyas S, Younis MI (2017) A scalable pressure sensor based on an electrothermally and electrostatically operated resonator. Applied Physics Letters 111: 223503. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5003563.Sponsors
This research was supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) funds.Publisher
AIP PublishingJournal
Applied Physics LettersAdditional Links
http://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5003563ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1063/1.5003563