An in-plane high-sensitivity, low-noise micro-g silicon accelerometer

Author

Chae, Junseok ; Kulah, Haluk ; Najafi, Khalil

Author_Institution

Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

fYear

2003

fDate

19-23 Jan. 2003

Firstpage

466

Lastpage

469

Abstract

A high-sensitivity, low-noise in-plane capacitive microaccelerometer utilizing a combined bulk and surface micromachining technology is demonstrated. The accelerometer utilizes a 0.5 mm-thick, 2.4 mm × 1.0 mm proof-mass and high aspect-ratio vertical polysilicon sensing electrodes fabricated using a trench refill process. The electrodes are separated from the proof-mass through a 1.1 μm sensing gap that is formed using a sacrificial oxide layer. The measured sensitivity of the device is 5.6pF/g and the output noise floor of the accelerometer hybrid assembled with CMOS interface circuit is 1.6pg/4Hz in atmosphere.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; accelerometers; elemental semiconductors; micromachining; microsensors; semiconductor device noise; silicon; 0.5 mm; 1.0 mm; 1.1 micron; 2.4 mm; CMOS interface circuit; Si; high-sensitivity capacitive micro-accelerometer; low-noise micro-g Si accelerometer; micromachining; trench refill process; Acceleration; Accelerometers; Atmosphere; Electrodes; Mechanical sensors; Micromachining; Noise reduction; Packaging; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2003. MEMS-03 Kyoto. IEEE The Sixteenth Annual International Conference on

ISSN

1084-6999

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7744-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.2003.1189787

Filename

1189787