Ultra-sensitive resonant low-medium vacuum pressure micro-sensor

We report an ultra-sensitive pressure sensor by electrothermally exciting and tracking the frequency shift of the first two symmetric/anti-symmetric resonant modes of a V-shaped multi-stepped micro-beam, which is operated near the frequency veering (avoided-crossing) zone. Operating in the low-medium vacuum pressure range and with low power consumption around 0.7 mu W, the micro-sensor achieves an ultra-sensitivity of 385320 ppm/Torr, which is very high compared to other reported pressure sensors. In addition, the facts that it does not rely on big diaphragms, and its potential for further significant miniaturization make it promising for many practical applications.