ScioSense launches single-chip pressure sensor based on CMOS-MEMS process

ScioSense launches single-chip pressure sensor based on CMOS-MEMS process

New compact ENS220 provides high-precision, low-noise barometric pressure measurements with output data rates up to 1KHz

Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and Jinan, China, November 15, 2022 – ScioSense, an industry-leading manufacturer of environmental and high-precision flow and time measurement sensor chips, today announced the launch of the ENS220, an ultra-low power pressure sensor with a built-in temperature sensor in a compact package that provides excellent measurement speed, resolution and accuracy.

The ENS220 will be demonstrated at ScioSense booth B3.419 at electronica (November 15-18, Munich).

The sensor adopts the industry's mainstream 2.0mm×2.0mm LGA package and is suitable for mobile devices and wearable devices such as smart watches and wristbands, GPS navigation systems, and personal health monitoring devices.

The relative pressure measurement accuracy of ENS220 is ±2.5Pa, which is equivalent to ±21cm accuracy at an altitude difference of 83m when converted to altitude or height; the typical noise level is 0.85Pa (RMS) when using the highest sampling rate. Combining the two, it can detect altitude changes as small as 7cm, which is suitable for indoor navigation and positioning, activity tracking and fall detection applications.

These applications benefit from the high-speed sampling, low noise, high resolution and high precision of ENS220. The measurement resolution is up to 1/64Pa, and the output data rate can be configured by the user up to 1kHz, which is convenient for customers to achieve the best balance between latency and power consumption. The high precision of ENS220 under high-speed sampling makes it particularly suitable for applications such as fall detection that require continuous high-speed measurement of small changes with high precision.

ENS220 has extremely low power consumption. When the rated supply voltage is 1.8V and the sampling rate is 1KHz, the operating current is less than 80µA; when sampling once per minute, the operating current is only 0.8µA; and the operating current in standby mode is 0.1µA.

New CMOS-MEMS integrated single chip architecture

Bringing a new technical route for small surface mount pressure sensors, ENS220 is a major technological innovation in the field of pressure sensors. Traditional pressure sensors are generally made of two independent units, MEMS sensors and ASIC circuits, which are bound and packaged through connecting wires. The uniqueness of ENS220 is that both MEMS sensors and ASIC circuits are implemented on the same CMOS die, which is a single-chip (Monolithic) solution.

The CMOS-MEMS single-chip architecture eliminates the parasitic parameters generated on the MEMS and CMOS interface in traditional sensors. In addition, through the CMOS-MEMS architecture, ScioSense can also perfectly match the capacitance of the pressure film with the capacitance of the signal processing circuit, minimizing the noise of the internal circuit (including the 24-bit ADC). The main benefits brought by this are:

Lower noise floor

Higher sensitivity

Smaller size

Lower manufacturing costs

The ENS220’s built-in temperature sensor has a resolution of 8mK and an accuracy of ±0.2K, ensuring reliable temperature compensation of the pressure output over the measuring range of 300hPa to 1,200hPa (-40°C to 85°C).

Dirk Enderlein, CEO of ScioSense, said: "ENS220 is a major breakthrough in the pressure sensor market in many years. Compared with traditional MEMS pressure sensors, ScioSense has realized the entire sensor and circuit in CMOS, which greatly reduces the noise floor, improves sensitivity and shortens conversion time. For applications that require high accuracy and high precision height measurement or altitude measurement at high sampling rates, ENS220 should be the best choice of pressure sensor."

ENS220 outputs pressure or temperature values ​​through a digital I2C or SPI interface. The device's LGA package size is 2.0mm×2.0mm×0.75mm.

Samples are available from ScioSense and authorized dealers starting in Q1 2023.

About ScioSense - Sense the World, Sense the Future

ScioSense is headquartered in Jinan, China and Eindhoven, the Netherlands, with branches in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, Germany, Italy, and the United States. It is a manufacturer of environmental and high-precision flow and time measurement sensor chips that integrates R&D, design, production and sales. Its product portfolio includes humidity, gas/air quality, temperature, pressure, hydrogen energy, and high-precision flow and time measurement chips for smart homes/buildings, home appliances, IoT/wearable devices, automotive and industrial applications.

ScioSense is a joint venture between ams OSRAM AG and Wise Road Capital.