Wide vacuum pressure range monitoring by Pirani SAW sensor.
A new kind of surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor has been developed to measure sub-atmospheric pressure below 100 mtorr with accuracy better than 0.1 mtorr. It provides an efficient measuring solution in the pressure range inaccessible in past by conventional diaphragm-based SAW sensors. Indeed, because of the small bending force in lower pressure and limited sensitivity, diaphragm-based SAW sensors are only suited to monitor relatively high pressure with a precision hardly better than 0.5 torr. To reach precision level better than 1 mtorr at sub-atmospheric pressure for vacuum technology applications, a radically different SAW-based solution is necessary. Our device aims to measure sub-atmospheric pressure less than 100 mtorr with a threshold resolution better than 0.1 mtorr. The concept is similar to the one used by Pirani pressure gauges. However, it is claimed that a heated and suspended SAW device should have better sensitivity. A theoretical model based on the basic concepts of gas kinetic theory and thermodynamics is presented. The validity of the model is checked by comparison between theoretical and experimental results.
Nicolay
Pascal
P
LPMIA, UMR 7040 CNRS, Nancy University, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France
Elmazria
Omar
O
Sarry
Frederic
F
Bouvot
Laurent
L
Kambara
Hisanori
H
Singh
Kanwar J
KJ
Alnot
Patrick
P