A novel (111) single-crystal-silicon accelerometer using parallel-connected parallel plate capacitance

A novel single-crystal-silicon capacitance type accelerometer on (111) substrate was designed, fabricated, and characterized in this study. As to design, this study successfully employed the idea of parallel-connected capacitance to remarkably amplify the sensing signal of the accelerometer. As to fabrication, this study exploited the "stratification" characteristic of the (111) Si substrate and the shadow mask to produce the parallel plate electrodes. Thus, the bonding process is not required. The whole structure was formed by single crystal silicon because of its superior mechanical properties. Since this process can fabricate thick and stiff structure, the accelerometer is especially suitable for high-g application.