Review on pressure sensors: a perspective from mechanical to micro-electro-mechanical systems

Abstract

Purpose Considering its vast utility in industries, this paper aims to present a detailed review on fundamentals, classification and progresses in pressure sensors, along with its wide area of applications, its design aspects and challenges, to provide state-of-the-art gist to the researchers of the similar domain at one place. Design/methodology/approach Swiftly emerging research prospects in the micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) enable to build complex and sophisticated micro-structures on a substrate containing moving masses, cantilevers, flexures, levers, linkages, dampers, gears, detectors, actuators and many more on a single chip. One of the MEMS initial products that emerged into the micro-system technology is MEMS pressure sensor. Because of their high performance, low cost and compact in size, these sensors are extensively being adopted in numerous applications, namely, aerospace, automobile and bio-medical domain, etc. These application requirements drive and impose tremendous conditions on sensor design to overcome the tedious design and fabrication procedure before its reality. MEMS-based pressure sensors enable a wide range of pressure measurement as per the application requirements. Findings The paper provides a detailed review on fundamentals, classification and progresses in pressure sensors, along with its wide area of applications, its design aspects and challenges, to provide state of the art gist to the researchers of the similar domain at one place. Originality/value The present paper discusses the basics of MEMS pressure sensors, their working principles, different design aspects, classification, type of sensing diaphragm used and illustration of various transduction mechanisms. Moreover, this paper presents a comprehensive review on present trend of research on MEMS-based pressure sensors, its applications and the research gap observed till date along with the scope for future work, which has not been discussed in earlier reviews.

Enhancing Performance of a MEMS-Based Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor by Groove: Investigation of Groove Design Using Finite Element Method

“…V in (13) where the subscript i denotes the values of any parameter at each measurement point of the applied pressure (P = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kPa), and the input voltage (V in ) of 5 V is used in the present work. Therefore, the sensitivity can be calculated by substituting V out,5 into V max in Equation ( 4), i.e., S =…”

“…16), ( 21) and ( 22) respectively, are in good agreement with the simulation results, where the maximum error of 𝛿 𝑚𝑎𝑥,𝐿𝐺2−𝐿𝑇−𝑇𝑜𝑝 , around 2%, is found at 𝑑 𝑔 ̅̅̅ = 0.2 at the applied pressure of 1 kPa, and the maximum errors of 17), ( 23) and ( 24) respectively, are also in good agreement with the simulation results, where the maximum error of 𝛿 𝑚𝑎𝑥,𝐴𝐺−𝑇𝑜𝑝 , around 1.8%, is found at 𝑑 𝑔 ̅̅̅ = 0.6 at the applied pressure of 3 kPa, and the maximum errors of ∆𝜎 1 ,𝐴𝐺−𝑇𝑜𝑝 and ∆𝜎 2 ,𝐴𝐺−𝑇𝑜𝑝 , around 1%, are found at 𝑑 𝑔 ̅̅̅ = 0.6 at the applied pressure of 5 kPa. The functional forms of the averaged stress differences in terms of 𝑑 𝑔 in Equations The functional forms of the averaged stress differences in terms of d g in Equations ( 21)-(24), i.e., ∆σ 1,LG2−LT−Top , ∆σ 2,LG2−LT−Top , ∆σ 1, AG−Top and ∆σ 2,AG−Top , respectively, can be used to calculate V out,i by substituting ∆σ 1 and ∆σ 2 in the case study of interest into Equation (13). Therefore, sensitivity can be calculated by substituting V out,max into Equation (4) while nonlinearity error can be calculated by substituting V out,i and V out,max into Equation ( 14).…”

“…From the market trends, the report of MEMS pressure sensors shows that from 2019 to 2026, the demands of MEMS pressure sensors in biomedical applications (invasive measurements) and the industrial market (factory automation, process control systems and smart meters) will be expanding by around 30% and 50%, respectively, which are the top two expansion rates of demand in the MEMS pressure sensor market, according to Damianos and Mouly (2021) [12]. The ultralow pressure measurement is required in both biomedical applications (2-4 kPa) [13] and process control systems such as HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) controls (0.1-1 kPa) [11]. There are two main types of MEMS pressure sensors that are widely used for the ultra-low pressure measurement, i.e., the piezoresistive pressure sensor and the capacitive one.…”

Preparation of a Vertical Graphene-Based Pressure Sensor Using PECVD at a Low Temperature

“…With an increasing number of wearable devices being used in heart rate monitoring, industrial robots, and medical electronic monitoring, flexible sensors with superior performance have developed rapidly [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Generally speaking, the working mechanisms of common pressure sensors include the piezoresistive effect, capacitance effect, and resistance effect [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Among them, the key to realizing pressure sensing by using the piezoresistive effect is that the external load will cause certain deformation of the microstructure of force-sensitive material, which results in changes in the carrier mobility to achieve a change in the actual resistance [ 9 ].…”

Soft Ionic Pressure Sensor with Aloe Vera Gel for Low-Pressure Applications

“…Such characteristic parameters of a pressure sensor are influenced by several factors, including its working principle, sensing material properties, geometry, etc. [1,2]. Based on the materials used in their fabrication, they can also be classified as rigid or soft sensors.…”