A novel micro pirani gauge with mono-wire sensing unit for microsystem application

This paper reports a novel, simple, low-cost and high sensitivity micro Pirani gauge to monitor long-time pressure change and stability inside a vacuum package. The packaging structure is very simple with one wire as sensing part only. Two ends of a metal wire with a certain temperature coefficient of resistance are bonded to the pads of the ceramic structure with a cavity for microsystem application. The metal wire and the packaged part can be formed as a micro Pirani gauge. The dynamic range of this novel Pirani gauge in our experiment is from 1Pa to 100Pa.