The Micro Pirani Gauge with Low Noise CDS-CTIA for In-Situ Vacuum Monitoring

A resistive micro Pirani gauge using amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin membrane is proposed. The proposed Pirani gauge can be easily integrated with the other process-compatible membrane-type sensors, and can be applicable for in-situ vacuum monitoring inside the vacuum package without an additional process. The vacuum level is measured by the resistance changes of the membrane using the low noise correlated double sampling (CDS) capacitive trans-impedance amplifier (CTIA). The measured vacuum range of the Pirani gauge is 0.1 to 10 Torr. The sensitivity and non-linearity are measured to be 78 mV / Torr and 0.5% in the pressure range of 0.1 to 10 Torr. The output noise level is measured to be $268{\mu}V_{rms}$ in 0.5 Hz to 50 Hz, which is 41.2% smaller than conventional CTIA.