Pressure sensor will become the number one MEMS device in 2014

According to IHSiSuppli's MEMS and sensor research report, pressure sensors will become the highest sales of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices by 2014 due to relatively high prices and expanding applications in the automotive, medical and industrial fields.

Because the automotive industry recovered strongly after the recession, last year sales of pressure sensors increased by 26% from 2009 to 1.22 billion US dollars, ranking second in all MEMS devices. This year's growth will be mild, with an estimated growth of 6% and sales of $1.3 billion. However, it is expected that the growth rate in 2012 will reach double digits.

With a steady expansion, pressure sensors will become the highest-volume MEMS devices after three years, squeezing ubiquitous accelerometers and increasingly popular gyroscopes. Due to different levels of compensation, die calibration, and package types, the average price of MEMS pressure sensors currently varies widely, ranging from a few dollars to several tens of dollars for high-value industrial and medical applications, while facing aircraft hydraulic systems or flight data Up to several hundred dollars are used for the most professional applications such as measurement, including industrial applications in harsh media, temperature and pressure conditions.

By 2015, sales of MEMS pressure sensors will reach 1.97 billion U.S. dollars, and the compound annual growth rate for 2010-2015 will be 10%.

MEMS pressure sensors are used extensively in a variety of applications MEMS pressure sensors are thin film elements that deform when subjected to pressure. The strain gauge (piezoresistive type sensing) can be used to measure this deformation, and it can also be measured by the capacitance sensing the change in the distance between the two surfaces. Both of these methods are very popular and tire pressure monitoring systems use a more robust piezoresistive method.

The automotive industry is still the largest application area for MEMS pressure sensors, accounting for 72% of its sales, followed by medical electronics 12%, industrial 10%, consumer electronics and military aviation occupy the remaining 6% of the market.

In the automotive sector, engine management is its main application, including manifold air pressure sensors in gasoline engines and common rail pressure sensors in diesel vehicles, especially in Europe. In order to improve the combustion situation, some organizations are also studying pressure sensors that can work in cylinders to better measure the exact proportion of various substances involved in chemical reactions and to feed back data to the engine management system.

Due to the harsh working environment, the price of automotive sensors is much higher than that of consumer sensors. In addition, automotive sensors require long authentication times, and these sensors must work reliably for up to 15 years. Some sensors, such as brakes or tire pressure sensors, are critical to vehicle safety.

A new application for MEMS pressure sensors in automobiles is transmission pressure sensing, which is often used in automatic devices but also for new dual clutch transmission systems. German manufacturer Bosch recently entered the market and launched a MEMS solution that uses oil to protect the silicon film to a pressure of up to 70 bar. Bosch also brought great changes to MEMS pressure sensors several years ago when porous silicon was used to bring highly reliable MEMS devices that have been used in current side airbag applications.

In the medical market, pressure sensors primarily act as disposable low-cost catheters for surgical use. But they are also used in expensive equipment to sense pressure and differential flow in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAC) machines. These devices have great potential and may become implantable sensors after 2015. Implantable sensors work without a battery and can be used for heart measurements and monitoring glaucoma.

In the industrial field, the main applications of MEMS pressure sensors include heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), level measurement, and various industrial process and control applications.

For example, in addition to precise altitude barometric measurements, aircraft uses sensors to monitor engines, flaps, and other components.

MEMS pressure sensors are not particularly hot in consumer and mobile devices. So far, the application of MEMS pressure sensors in the field of consumer electronics and mobile is not particularly common, with sales of less than US$20 million. But its applications are diverse, including weather stations, sports watches, bicycle computers, diving equipment, and pedometers. It can also be used in white goods, such as water level sensors used in energy-efficient washing machines.

In the mobile field, there has been no large-scale application so far. In the future, high-end smart phones may use pressure sensors as altimeters to support indoor location services, but they do not yet have infrastructure in this area. In the field of tablet computers, pressure sensors have so far only been used to enable them to display local weather conditions.

Compared with accelerometers and gyroscopes that are widely used in consumer electronics and mobile applications, the application of pressure sensors in this area will remain very limited in the coming years.