Silicon microcantilevers with different actuation-readout schemes for absolute pressure measurement

Abstract

Silicon resonant microcantilevers for the measurement of the absolute pressure have been fabricated through micromachining processes. The first release is based on vertical resonant actuation and detection, both externally implemented, respectively through a piezoelectric actuator and an optical lever. The variation in resonance response was investigated as a function of pressure (10-1%105 Pa), both in terms of resonance frequency and quality factor. We demonstrated the feasibility of a miniaturized absolute pressure sensor working over a six decades range. The second release is based on lateral resonating microcantilevers in which a significative upgrade is represented by the miniaturization and integration of the actuator and the sensing directly on chip providing a more compact and potentially interesting solution for industrial vacuum applications. Actuation is performed with an electrostatic modulated force, while detection relies on a capacitive readout. Preliminary experiments are encouraging for the replication of the results obtained with the first version. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.