This paper introduces the origins and derivation of cross capacitance principle. Its development for capacitor benchmarks and the gradual reduction in biasness while measuring 1pF capacitance to 10-8 was discussed. Furthermore, the methods, principle and application of cross capacitor in sensor manufacturing and in micro capacitance detection methods was reviewed. Compared with the traditional capacitance sensor, the cross-capacitance sensor is classified as follows: variable medium type, variable area type and variable plate spacing type, and its advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. Based on the analysis of the existing cross-capacitance sensor research, how to further optimize the cross-capacitance sensor and its development direction are discussed。By summarizing and summarizing the existing cross-capacitive sensors, the capacitive sensor system is more perfect and a reference is provided for the follow-up cross-capacitor research.