Packaging a piezoresistive pressure sensor to measure low absolute pressures over a wide sub-zero temperature range

The packaging, calibration, and testing of a commercial silicon fusion bond ed piezoresistive pressure sensor for a Martian deployment are described. D etail is provided on the sensor mounting and electronic instrumentation req uired for this environment. Flight testing procedures and the residual erro rs for packaged pressure sensors are presented. Pressure and temperature hy steresis are investigated as sources of this error. The data illustrates th e potential high performance of off-the-shelf silicon fusion bonded piezore sistive pressure sensors, which are carefully packaged, instrumented, and i ndividually calibrated. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.