Surface-micromachined resonant accelerometer

Author

Roessig, T.A. ; Howe, Roger T. ; Pisano, Albert P. ; Smith, James H.

Author_Institution

Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, California Univ., Berkeley, CA, USA

Volume

2

fYear

1997

fDate

16-19 Jun 1997

Firstpage

859

Abstract

This paper discusses the design and testing of a resonant accelerometer developed for integrated surface-micromachining processes. First- and second-generation designs are presented. The sensors use leverage mechanisms to transfer force from a proof mass to double-ended tuning fork (DETF) resonators used as force transducers. Each fork forms the basis of an integrated oscillator to provide the output waveforms. The DETFs on the first-generation device have a nominal frequency of 175 kHz, and the sensor has a scale factor of 2.4 Hz/g. The oscillators on this device exhibit a root Allan variance floor of 38 mHz (220 ppb). The second-generation, higher-sensitivity sensor uses DETFs with a nominal frequency of 68 kHz and has a measured scale factor of 45 Hz/g

Keywords

accelerometers; elemental semiconductors; micromachining; micromechanical resonators; microsensors; silicon; 175 kHz; 38 mHz; 68 kHz; Si; double-ended tuning fork; first-generation device; force transducers; integrated oscillator; integrated surface-micromachining processes; leverage mechanisms; nominal frequency; output waveforms; resonant accelerometer; root Allan variance floor; scale factor; second-generation device; Accelerometers; Actuators; Force sensors; Frequency; Laboratories; Oscillators; Resonance; Testing; Transducers; Vibrations;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid State Sensors and Actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS '97 Chicago., 1997 International Conference on

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3829-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.1997.635237

Filename

635237