Pressure Sensor Based on Measurement of Vibration Damping

A compact, low-power device measures pressure via the pressure-induced damping of oscillation of a small mechanical resonator. To achieve compactness and low mass — and thus low-power consumption — the resonator is micromachined out of silicon. In addition to the resonator, the device includes an electronic circuit that drives the oscillation and effectively measures the resonance quality factor (Q), which is inversely proportional to the rate of damping.