A BE-SOI MEMS for Inertial Measurement in Geophysical Applications

Author

Andò, Bruno ; Baglio, Salvatore ; Episcopo, Gaetano L. ; Marletta, Vincenzo ; Savalli, Nicolò ; Trigona, Carlo

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Ing. Elettr., Elettron. e dei Sist., Univ. of Catania, Catania, Italy

Volume

60

Issue

5

fYear

2011

fDate

5/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1901

Lastpage

1908

Abstract

In this paper, an inertial transducer developed in bulk and etch silicon-on-insulator microelectromechanical-system technology is presented. The device is suitable for low-frequency observation and could represent an interesting solution to implement low-cost monitoring systems for applications requiring a large number of monitoring sites and disposable devices. In particular, the sensor design and the technology adopted are presented here along with models describing the device operation. In addition, an experimental sensor prototype is proposed, and experimental results confirming the suitability of the proposed architecture and its consistence with the predicted behavior are discussed.

Keywords

environmental monitoring (geophysics); microsensors; seismometers; silicon-on-insulator; transducers; bulk and etch silicon-on-insulator microelectromechanical-system technology; experimental sensor prototype; geophysical application; inertial measurement; inertial transducer; low-cost monitoring system; Metals; Micromechanical devices; Monitoring; Resonant frequency; Sensitivity; Silicon; Springs; Bulk and etch silicon-on-insulator (BE-SOI); inertial sensor; low cost; microelectromechanical system (MEMS); seismic measurements; volcanic monitoring;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIM.2011.2108077

Filename

5723005