부산대학교 도서관

Vacuum sensors with small footprint, high sensitivity and wide detection range are important for the vacuum measurements in small space. Here, we report a new on-chip nanoscale vacuum sensor (NVS) based on electroformed silicon oxide with the structure of a nanoscale gap between two graphene electrodes on SiO2 substrate. The electrical resistance of the NVS increases exponentially by a magnitude of two orders with air pressure increasing from ~10−1 Pa to ~104 Pa. The increase of O2 partial pressure is responsible for the resistance increase of electroformed silicon oxide, where a Si-SiOx-Si tunneling diode is formed. The advantages of nanoscale size, simple structure, high sensitivity, direct electrical readout and wide detection range make the NVS promising for vacuum measurement of microscale space.