What are MEMS Pressure Sensors?
MEMS Pressure Sensors are manufactured by using MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) technologies. The core part of a MEMS Pressure Sensor is a pressure sensing die based on a silicon device wafer, encapsulated by a high quality borosilicate glass wafer.
How do MEMS Pressure Sensors work?
A membrane inside the silicon device wafer is created by micro machining processing steps. When pressure is applied, this membrane will deflect. This deflection can be detected and transformed to electrical signals by capacitive, piezoresistive or piezoelectric sensing.
There are different measurement principles of MEMS Pressure Sensors available such as absolute, gauge and differential measurement.
a) absolute measurement
b) gauge measurement
c) differential measurement
What are MEMS Pressure Sensors used for?
Automotive: Tire pressure, power steering, fuel injection, battery control, air conditioning, exhaust management, oil pressure, etc.
Aerospace: altitude control, atmospheric pressure, cabin pressure, jet engine, etc.
Live science: blood pressure, intracranial pressure (ICP), pacemakers, etc.
Consumer: barometric pressure, oil and gas production and transportation, coffee machine, etc.
What are MEMS Pressure Sensors glass wafers used for?
Glass wafers are a critical part in respect to the function of the entire sensor. They are used for encapsulation of the sensor. They need to ensure a long term stability, especially for critical, safety related functions in aerospace, automotive and medical applications.
Whats the advantage of Plan Optik’s glass wafers and how do they look like?
Plan Optik’s MEMS Pressure Sensor glass wafers are made from a special borosilicate glass (Borofloat33®, Pyrex®, etc.) due to its thermal properties (CTE) adapted to Silicon. Additionally this glass is suitable for anodic bonding due to its chemical composition. Plan Optik is offering high quality wafers in all common diameters with an extensive thickness range. These wafers can be double side polished or patterned (cavities or through-holes).
Available products at Plan Optik:
- polished glass wafers
- MDF polished glass wafers
- Through-hole glass wafers
- Cavity glass wafers