A MEMS hybrid inertial sensor based on convection heat transfer

The paper presents a micro electromechanical hybrid inertial sensor based on convection heat transfer. The sensor configuration consists of a small silicon etched cavity, a suspended central heater and four suspended thermistors, all of which are packaged in a hermetic chamber. The sensor has a configuration similar to those of known thermal accelerometers, but is different because it can sense dual axis accelerations and single axis angular rate. The working principle of the sensor, the numerical simulations of the convection flow and results of a first experiment are presented.