In recent years Micro Electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and micro opto electro mechanical systems (MOEMS) have grown in importance, especially in smart structure applications. In this paper a theoretical comparative study is made analyzing three different types of micro pressure sensors. MEMS type pressure sensors of the piezo-resistive and capacitive type are considered along with MOEM pressure sensor of the Fabry- Perot interferometric type. It is found that piezo resistive and capacitive pressure sensors in the micro form attain improved noise performance as compared to their bulk counterparts. The opto-mechanical sensors shows better noise performance than the capacitive sensor, when the limiting noise is due to Brownian motion.

Date Published: 20 July 1999
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 3673, Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Smart Electronics and MEMS, (20 July 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.354293

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3673:
Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Smart Electronics and MEMS
Vijay K. Varadan, Editor(s)