Design and fabrication of a novel all-quartz resonant pressure sensor with continuously variable section of DETF

This paper reports a novel piezoelectric quartz crystal pressure sensor with a double-ended tuning fork (DETF) resonator. The key design is the resonator beams with a continuously variable section shape. Different from the traditional DETF with straight beams or the one with variable sections with steps, this design can improve sensitivity effectively. Theoretical analysis indicates that the sensitivity will increase with a decrease in beam width. Resonant pressure sensors with three different DETFs are designed and analyzed by finite element analysis software. Simulation results show that the sensitivity of this design is 162.27 Hz/MPa. This sensor has a typical structure, which includes three parts: the diaphragm, DETF resonator, and back-cavity structure. Quartz MEMS processes have been used in fabrication. The three parts are bonded together by vacuum glass frit sealing process. Test results of this sensor show that the natural frequency is 44.709 kHz with a quality factor of 12 717. The sensitivity is 155.6 Hz/MPa in the pressure range of 0–20 MPa. The results indicate that this novel design has advantages in sensitivity and fabrication processes. It will be a benefit for a high-performance and low-cost pressure measurement.