A high sensitivity and high linearity pressure sensor based on a peninsula-structured diaphragm for low-pressure ranges

• A peninsula-structured diaphragm was proposed in pressure sensor design.
• The resistor design was optimized to improve the sensor performance.
• The new sensor design has been compared with other typical sensors.
• Ideal results were obtained after fabrication and test of the proposed sensor.

The trade-off between sensitivity and linearity has been the major problem in designing the piezoresistive pressure sensors for low pressure ranges. To resolve the problem, a novel peninsula-structured diaphragm with specially designed piezoresistors was proposed. Finite element method (FEM) was adopted for analyzing the sensor performance as well as comparisons with other sensor structures. In comparison to flat diaphragm, the proposed sensor design could achieve a sensitivity increase by 11.4%, nonlinearity reduction of 60% and resonance frequency increase of 41.8%. In addition, the modified peninsula-structured diaphragms featuring a center boss have been optimized to achieve ultra-low nonlinearities of 0.018%FFS and 0.07%FFS for the 5 kPa and 3 kPa pressure ranges respectively with higher sensitivities as compared to the CBM (cross beam membrane) and hollow stiffening structures. In accordance with the FEM results, the fabricated pressure sensor with the peninsula-structured diaphragm showed a sensitivity of 18.4 mV/V full-scale output and a nonlinearity error of 0.36%FSS in the pressure range 0–5 kPa. The proposed sensor structure is potentially a better choice for designing low pressure sensors.