A model has been developed and experimentally verified to determine the feasibility of ionizing a gas to measure barometric pressure. Alpha particles emitted from an americium 241 source ionize the gas. The number of ions created depends directly on the number of alpha particle-gas molecule interactions which is proportional to gas pressure. An electric field applied to the ionized gas causes current proportional to the ion count and therefore gas pressure. Several nonlinear effects have been identified and modeled including gas chamber geometry, alpha particle source emission pattern and ion recombination. The lack of any moving components or dependence on material strain leads to resistance to shock and strain. With suitable low power amplification electronics, overall power level of a few μW can be achieved. The cm scale of the sensing element would be the driving factor in the size of a final device.

已经开发了一个模型，并通过实验验证了该模型，以确定电离气体以测量气压的可行性。从meric241源发射的α粒子使气体电离。产生的离子数量直接取决于与气体压力成正比的α粒子与气体分子相互作用的数量。施加到电离气体上的电场导致电流与离子数成正比，因此与气压成正比。已经识别和建模了几种非线性效应，包括气室几何形状，α粒子源发射图和离子重组。缺少任何移动部件或对材料应变的依赖性会导致抗冲击和应变。使用合适的低功率放大电子设备，可以实现几微瓦的总功率水平。