Title :
Surface micromachining: from vision to reality to vision [accelerometer]
Author :
Payne, R.S. ; Sherman, S. ; Lewis, S. ; Howe, R.T.
Author_Institution :
Analog Devices Inc., Wilmington, MA, USA
Abstract :
Airbag deployment systems demand reliable, inexpensive sensing of deceleration of the car during collision. The integrated accelerometer combines a 0.3 mm/sup 2/ micromechanical capacitive sensing element with precision bipolar/MOS control circuitry in a 9 mm/sup 2/ area. The microstructure is fabricated from a layer of deposited polysilicon by surface micromachining. This chip is an A/V (acceleration-to-voltage) functional block for accelerations of 1 to 50 g. This paper reviews the rationale for surface micromachining the sensing element, the BiMOS2C integrated process, the sense and control circuit architecture, and performance of the chip.
Keywords :
BIMOS integrated circuits; accelerometers; automotive electronics; micromachining; microsensors; BiMOS2C process; Si; acceleration-to-voltage functional block; airbag; bipolar/MOS control circuitry; car collisions; integrated accelerometer; micromechanical capacitive sensor; microstructure; polysilicon; surface micromachining; Acceleration; Accelerometers; Etching; Integrated circuit yield; Micromachining; Micromechanical devices; Microstructure; Sensor systems; Silicon; Surface cracks;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Circuits Conference, 1995. Digest of Technical Papers. 41st ISSCC, 1995 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2495-1
DOI :
10.1109/ISSCC.1995.535506
