Guided Wave Optical MEMS Pressure Sensor

Guided wave optics in combination with micro-machining technology offer immense potential for sensor applications. In this paper we analyse an guided wave optics based MEMS pressure sensor consisting of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer whose sensing arm is over the edge of a bulk micromachined silicon diaphragm. We compare this sensor utilising the elasto-optic effect with the conventional piezo-resistive and capacitive micromachined pressure sensors in terms of their sensitivities. This MOEM pressure sensor is found to be superior to the conventional ones. This sensor can be used for blood pressure monitoring, precision instrumentation, aerospace propulsion application with suitable design parameters