Electromechanical pressure sensor

A method of producing an electromechanical pressure sensor, the method comprising:

• providing an electromechanical resonator, comprising a driving electrode, a sensing electrode, and a beam resonator arranged between the driving and sensing electrodes, wherein the beam resonator includes a resonator beam coupled on a first end to a first fixed anchor and coupled on a second end to a fixed second fixed anchor;
• coupling a first voltage source to the driving electrode, wherein the first voltage source is configured to provide an alternating current to the driving electrode;
• coupling a second voltage source to the first fixed anchor, wherein the second voltage source provides a DC bias to the resonator beam;
• coupling a third voltage source to the resonator beam, wherein the third voltage source is configured to supply a voltage to the resonator beam that results in a temperature differential between the resonator beam and the first and second fixed anchors;
• and
• coupling a processor to the sensing electrode, wherein the processor is configured to correlate a voltage on the sensing electrode indicative of a shift in a resonance frequency of the resonator beam with a pressure value based on the voltage supplied by the third voltage source.

A method of determining pressure, the method comprising:

• applying an alternating current to a driving electrode of an electromechanical resonator, which comprises the driving electrode, a sensing electrode, and a beam resonator arranged between the driving and sensing electrodes, wherein the beam resonator includes a resonator beam coupled on a first end to a first fixed anchor and coupled on a second end to a fixed second fixed anchor;
• applying a DC bias voltage to the first fixed anchor;
• electrothermally heating the resonator beam with an additional voltage;
• and
• determining the pressure by correlating a voltage on the sensing electrode indicative of a shift in a resonance frequency of the resonator beam with a pressure value based on the additional voltage.