High performance and low-cost graphene vacuum pressure sensor based on one-step laser scribing

Abstract

Vacuum pressure sensors play a significant role in industry and scientific research. However, there are still many challenges for further application of vacuum pressure sensors due to their complex fabrication and high cost. In this work, we have fabricated a graphene vacuum pressure sensor by one-step laser scribing within 25 min. The resistance of the sensor decreases with declining vacuum pressure. Four linear segments are obtained in the relationship between the resistance response and the vacuum pressure ranging from 7.5 × 10−4 Torr to 2.35 Torr at room temperature. Besides, the graphene sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 1.2 × 10−2 Torr−1 and a rapid response time of 9 s, which are superior to previously reported sensors. The sensing mechanism of the graphene vacuum pressure sensor is investigated. Under the influence of van der Waals interactions between the stacked graphene multilayers, the void space among the neighboring graphene layers reduces with decreasing vacuum pressure, resulting in a decrease of the sheet resistance. The designed graphene vacuum pressure sensor with the distinguished features of high performance, small size, low cost, and simple fabrication shows great feasibility and tremendous potential for vacuum measurement applications.

Broad-Range Fast Response Vacuum Pressure Sensors Based on a Graphene Nanocomposite with Hollow α-Fe2O3 Microspheres

“…This result emphasizes the advantage of the altered properties of the nanocomposite over original precursors, that is, GO and rGO. However, not only among these devices, the response time for the device under test was found to be better than those vacuum sensors reported in the literature, which includes sensors based on graphene, rGO, rGO–polymer composites, and so forth. ,,− It may be emphasized here that a fast responding vacuum sensor is essential for any vacuum system and is of utmost importance if the new sensor needs to compete with the established vacuum pressure gauges.…”

“…GnVS was compared to the reported state-of-the-art graphene-based vacuum sensors. Vacuum sensors based on plain rGO or rGO coated on polymer surfaces show shorter operating range and slower response time. − Designs involving monolayer to few-layer graphene show good response times and may find application in MEMS area but are limited to a very short operating range. ,− The requirement of clean room facilities for fabrication of such chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene-based sensors makes them expensive. Moreover, the response time of all the reported devices are taken as reported for the stipulated range of operation.…”

“…The temperature of the sensing layer increases because of the absence of heat transferring gaseous media around it, leading to changes in its resistance. A different genre of sensors involving plain reduced graphene oxide (rGO) or rGO arranged around polymers such as poly­(vinyl alcohol) and poly­(methyl methacrylate) has been demonstrated. − Varying interlayer van der Waals (vdW) force and interspacing due to desorption of the adsorbed gases in vacuum have been proposed as a measure of vacuum in these types of sensors. The deterring factor, as reported in these kinds of sensors, is the long response time, that is, the tailing nature of response curves attributed to the low diffusion rate of gases desorbing from the intersheet gaps or adsorbing into the gaps.…”

Design and applications of graphene-based flexible and wearable physical sensing devices

“…To improve the stretchability and responsive properties of the sensor, different processing techniques and device designs were introduced [73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84]. For example, through patterning techniques, CVDgrown graphene has non-monotonic piezoresistive properties with a tensile strain of 7.1%.…”

New fabrication method for producing reduced graphene oxide flexible electrodes by using a low-power visible laser diode engraving system

“…Laser methods for the simultaneous reduction of GO, patterning and transfer to polymer substrates have already been published, though they are limited to thin layers [28,29]. Recently, laser-induced reduction of GO is being intensively used for the development of devices in applications such as sensors, actuators, supercapacitors, solar cells and other electronic devices [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. In these methods, different strategies are explored to avoid the combustion of the GO material.…”