TABLE OF CONTENTS Glenn Harman, Global Product Leader, Honeywell Sensing and Control
Pressure sensors convert input pressures to electrical outputs to measure pressure, force and airflow. These measurements are used to control everything from the water level in your washing machine to the gases emitted by your car s exhaust system. Pressure sensors are used in medical equipment to monitor blood pressure, regulate intravenous infusions, and to detect such things as changes in cranial pressure, hearing problems and glaucoma. People in the manufacturing and process industries rely on pressure sensors to control their machinery and processes. They are essential to the operation of HVAC systems, forklifts, and earth-moving equipment. They measure altitude and turbidity on aircraft and are an important feature of the flight data recorders required on all commercial flights.
Wherever pressure, force or airflow needs to be precisely controlled, there is a potential pressure sensing application. Today s pressure sensors provide a high degree of repeatability, low hysteresis, and long-term stability in applications with input pressures ranging from less than one pound per square inch gauge (psig) to thousands of psig.
Most pressure, force and airflow sensors are fabricated using silicon-processing techniques common in the semiconductor industry. Therefore, much of the same terminology used in the semiconductor industry also applies to pressure sensor technology. Piezoresistive ion implanted semiconductor technology dominates the component market for pressure sensors for many good reasons. Other approaches, including variable reluctance, variable capacitance, fiber optic, and piezoelectric, are available for...
