The effects of radiation on MEMS accelerometers

Author

Knudson, A.R. ; Buchner, S. ; McDonald, P. ; Stapor, W.J. ; Campbell, A.B. ; Grabowski, K.S. ; Knies, D.L. ; Lewis, S. ; Zhao, Y.

Author_Institution

Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA

Volume

43

Issue

6

fYear

1996

fDate

12/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3122

Lastpage

3126

Abstract

Exposing just the mechanical part (sensor) of MEMS accelerometers to protons and heavy ions caused large changes in outputs representing the measured acceleration for the ADXL50 and very small changes for the ADXL04. The large voltage shift measured for the ADXL50 is attributed to charge generated by the ions and trapped in dielectric layers below the moveable mass. The trapped charge alters the electric field distribution which, in turn, changes the output voltage. The construction of the ADXL04 differs from that of the ADXL50 in that the dielectric layers are covered with a conducting polycrystalline silicon layer that effectively screens out the trapped charge, leaving the output voltage unchanged

Keywords

accelerometers; elemental semiconductors; ion beam effects; ion beams; micromechanical devices; proton effects; silicon; MEMS accelerometers; Si; conducting polysilicon layer; dielectric layers; electric field distribution; heavy ion effects; output voltage; proton effects; trapped charge; voltage shift; Acceleration; Accelerometers; Current measurement; Dielectric measurements; Mechanical sensors; Mechanical variables measurement; Micromechanical devices; Protons; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.556914

Filename

556914