A MEMS sensor for low-frequency vibration energy harvesting

Author

Moses, Matthew S. ; Wester, Brock A. ; Brown, Chris Y. ; Kutzer, Michael D. ; Kucher, Paul R. ; Rebello, Keith J.

Author_Institution

Appl. Phys. Lab., Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

27-27 March 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

This paper reports ongoing work in development of a MEMS electrostatic sensor for self-powered detection of mechanical vibrations of less than 1000 Hz. The sensor is an in-plane overlapping comb configuration. Six different variants on a common design were fabricated on a single die using the commercial SOI-MUMPS process. Additional masses were manually added to lower the resonant frequency.

Keywords

electrostatic devices; energy harvesting; microsensors; silicon-on-insulator; vibration measurement; MEMS electrostatic sensor; commercial SOI-MUMPS process; in-plane overlapping comb configuration; low-frequency vibration energy harvesting; mechanical vibration; microelectromechanical system; resonant frequency; self-powered detection; sensor design fabrication; single die; Capacitance; Electrostatics; Energy harvesting; Fingers; Micromechanical devices; Resonant frequency; Vibrations; electrostatic devices; energy harvesting; vibration measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microsystems for Measurement and Instrumentation (MAMNA), 2012

Conference_Location

Annapolis, MD

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-1781-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MAMNA.2012.6195098

Filename

6195098