Annularly grooved membrane combined with rood beam piezoresistive pressure sensor for low pressure applications

A novel structural piezoresistive pressure sensor with annularly grooved membrane combined with rood beam has been proposed for low pressure measurements based on silicon substrate. In this study, a design method, including the model design, dimensions optimization, and performance prediction of the novel structure sensor, is presented. The finite element method has been used to analyze the stress distribution of sensitive elements and the deflection of membrane. On the basis of simulation results, the relationships between structural dimension variables and mechanical performance are deduced, which make the fabrication processes more efficient. According to statistics theory, the coefficient of determination R² and residual sum of squares are introduced to indicate whether the fitting equations and curves match well with the simulation results. After that, a series of the optimal membrane dimensions are determined. Compared with other structural sensors, the optimized sensor achieves the best overall properties as it mitigates the contradiction between sensitivity and linearity. The reasons why the proposed sensor can maximize sensitivity and minimize nonlinearity are also discussed. By localizing more strain energy in the high concentrated stress profile and creating partially stiffened membrane, the proposed sensor has achieved a high sensitivity of 34.5 (mV/V)/psi and a low nonlinearity of 0.25% FSS. Thus, the proposed structure sensor will be a proper choice for low pressure applications less than 1 psi.