For many years standard vacuum pressure measurement sensors consist of capacitance diaphragm gauges, Pirani heat transfer gauges as well as ionization gauges. Development has progressed from passive gauges with a detached controller to combination gauges with integrated electronics. Market demand from industry continues to force the development of smaller, cheaper and better process sensors. Better in this context means the sensors must survive the harsh industrial process conditions for longer, measure faster and with better reproducibility. In the area of vacuum pressure metrology new developments are occurring in national measurement institutes and universities. The pressure is determined by measuring the refractive index. I will present some of the recent developments.

Martin Wüest is Senior Scientist Sensor Technology in the Vacuum Control business unit of INFICON Ltd. in Balzers, Principality of Liechtenstein. In his function he is involved in research and development of new total pressure sensors ranging from ionization and heat transfer gauges to membrane deflection gauges. Martin graduated in physics from the University of Bern, Switzerland, in 1987 and received his Ph.D. in physics also from the University of Bern in 1991 with a thesis on ion scattering on rough surfaces. Before joining INFICON in 2003 he was senior scientist in the Space Science and Engineering Division of Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX. There he was involved in the design and calibration of mass spectrometers and energetic neutral atom imagers for NASA’s Cassini and IMAGE mission.

Birck Nanotechnology Center, LyoHUB

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Martin Wuest (2018), "Progress in Vacuum Pressure Measurement," https://nanohub.org/resources/29143.

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