Abstract: A miniature ion pump, and method for fabricating the miniature ion pump, that may be included within a low-pressure microdevice microenclosure. The miniature ion pump comprises two charge plates separated by a constant distance, fabricated by well-known microchip fabrication techniques, to which a voltage potential difference is applied in order to create a perpendicular electric field that ionizes gas molecules. The resulting positively charged ions are adsorbed to charge plates, thus removing gas molecules from the interior of the low-pressure microenclosure and maintaining a low-pressure environment surrounding the enclosed microdevice.