Optimisation, design and fabrication of a novel accelerometer

This paper presents the design and fabrication of an accelerometer which, as its proof mass, employs a mechanically unsupported disk. The disk is levitated electrostatically and sensing is achieved capacitively. The accelerometer is force balanced by incorporating the mechanical sensing element in a Sigma Delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) modulator control system. Various electrode configurations are presented and optimised to ensure maximum pick-off signal. System level modelling results, comparing three and four electrode-group configurations, are presented and the fabrication process is discussed.