An inertial micro-switch with compliant cantilever fixed electrode for prolonging contact time

An inertial micro-switch with a compliant cantilever fixed electrode has been designed and fabricated by surface micromachining technology in the present work. The micro-switch can sense the applied acceleration in one horizontal direction. The dynamic contact process of the inertial micro-switch was simulated by finite element method (FEM). A compliant cantilever was proposed in the inertial system as fixed electrode, which can realize a flexible contact between the electrodes and eliminate the bouncing phenomenon for prolonging the contact time. A fabricated prototype inertial micro-switch was tested by dropping hammer system. The results demonstrate that the threshold acceleration of the fabricated prototype is ~180g. The test contact time is up to ~1050μs, which is much longer than that (~5μs) of one without the compliant cantilever.