Title :
Radiation response of a MEMS accelerometer: an electrostatic force
Author :
Edmonds, L.D. ; Swift, G.M. ; Lee, C.I.
Author_Institution :
Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
fDate :
12/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Particle irradiation on the mechanical sensor of the ADXL50 microelectromechanical accelerometer shifts the output voltage. An earlier conclusion, that a dielectric below the sensor becomes charged, is extended by quantifying the effect of this charge on device output. It is shown that an electrostatic force is consistent with the observation that the output voltage shift is independent of acceleration. Possible charging mechanisms are suggested. An appendix derives a convenient algorithm for calculating electrostatic forces, which may also be used for other MEMS devices
Keywords :
accelerometers; microsensors; proton effects; ADXL50 microelectromechanical accelerometer; MEMS device; algorithm; dielectric charging; electrostatic force; mechanical sensor; particle irradiation; radiation response; voltage shift; Accelerometers; Capacitors; Circuits; Dielectric substrates; Electrostatics; Impedance; Micromechanical devices; Position measurement; Space technology; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
