US Patent 7613586 Thermal vacuum gauge

A system for determining a gas pressure or gauging a vacuum in a hermetically sealed enclosure. One or more heater structures and one or more temperature sensor structures situated on a substrate may be used in conjunction for measuring a thermal conductivity of a gas in the enclosure. Each heater has significant thermal isolation from each sensor structure. Electronics connected to each heater and sensor of their respective structures may provide processing to calculate the pressure or vacuum in the enclosure. The enclosure may contain various electronic components such as bolometers.