A MEMS Friction Gauge For High Vacuum Measurement

High vacuum measurements are required in space exploration, the semiconductor industry, and other fields; however, minimized vacuum gauge for high vacuum (< 0.1 Pa) measurement remains unsettled. Herein, we present a microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based friction vacuum gauge with a large damping area and a small air gap for gas damping (1/Q(air)) enhancement, along with a double torsion mode to reduce thermal elastic damping losses (1/Q(ted)) and anchor losses (1/Q(anchor)) . After using the damping adjustment methods, the lower limit of the gauge in the linear range (P-d) was extended to 1.6 x 10(-3) Pa. The gauge covers a linear measurement range from 1.6 x 10(-3) to 0.1 Pa with excellent repeatability, high resolution (1.0x 10(-4) Pa), and a good temperature characteristic (0.107%/degree celsius). This gauge is anticipated to be used for leakage measurements of microvacuum chambers, as well as integrated with other miniaturized vacuum gauges to expand the measurement range of MEMS vacuum gauges.