Test environment for characterization of a nanoscale sensor system consisting of fluid flow sensors based on the Thermal-Time-of-Flight (TToF) principle and absolute pressure sensors

For the development of a new sensor system containing of nanoscale fluid flow and absolute pressure sensors, the comprehensive development and finite-element-method (FEM) simulation of a well-defined test environment is shown within this paper. The test environment shows sufficient results in nitrogen flow by using commercially available sensors and therefore creates the basis for testing complex nanoscale fluid and absolute pressure sensor systems in the future. The flow passage has been designed according to foregone simulations with the finite-element-simulation tool ANSYS and can be used for laminar and turbulent flow tests (via different flow filters). The high sensitivity read-out is done by a customized PCB consisting of 12 bit analog-digital-converter (A/D-C), where the digital signal is processed by the software tool LabVIEW. Finally, a customized program is used for the interaction between the user and the test environment and for characterizing the tested sensors.