Pressure sensors based on suspended graphene membranes

• Simulation suggesting a possible mechanism for piezoelectric coupling in graphene.
• Novel pressure sensor design based on graphene membranes.
• Highly scalable graphene pressure sensors.

A novel pressure sensor based on a suspended graphene membrane is proposed. The sensing mechanism is explained based on tight binding calculations of strain-induced changes in the band structure. A CMOS compatible fabrication process is proposed and used to fabricate prototypes. Electrical measurement data demonstrates the feasibility of the approach, which has the advantage of not requiring a separate strain gauge, i.e. the strain gauge is integral part of the pressure sensor membrane. Hence, graphene membrane based pressure sensors can in principle be scaled quite aggressively in size.