Silicon micro piezoresistive pressure sensors

Of all micro sensors the silicon pressure sensors have the largest market potential. It will remain a stable growth market over the next years. The value of the MEMS pressure sensor market is big. The market will grow from $1.9 billion in 2012 to $ 3 billion in 2018 [1]. Many companies offer them for a large number of applications, such as automotive, industrial, consumer, medical and high-end. The sensors differ in their specifications, their type of packaging and signal processing, and also their price. The manufacturers often offer a large variety of products ranging from sensor chips over OEM products to complete sensors (transmitters) with media separation, signal processing, and temperature compensation. In this chapter firstly the physical principle, which is suitable for pressure sensing is presented, followed by state of the art of silicon piezoresistive pressure sensors is described.