A double differential torsional accelerometer with improved temperature robustness

A 4 mm2 Double Differential Torsional MEMS Accelerometer Based on a Double-Beam Configuration

“…For a traditional double differential torsional MEMS accelerometer, wet etching is utilized to fabricate the suspended silicon beam with an accurate sloping cross sectional shape [ 22 , 23 ]. However, the process enlarges the device area and reduces the utilization ratio of the silicon chip.…”

“…Inspired by the high performance butterfly gyroscope [ 19 , 20 ] and the differential vibrating beam accelerometer [ 21 ], our team has designed and reported two types of double differential torsional MEMS accelerometers based on single-beam structures [ 22 , 23 ]. To further improve the performance and promote the commercial value, this paper presents a novel double-beam double differential torsional MEMS accelerometer of only 4 mm 2 , which utilizes a double differential configuration composed of four proof masses split into two pairs.…”

“…Compared with traditional single-beam silicon structures, the novel structure can achieve a lower maximum principle stress in critical regions and reduce the possibility of failure by changing the position of critical regions. Although the device area of our novel accelerometer is more than 50 times smaller than that of traditional double differential torsional MEMS accelerometer [ 22 , 23 ], the novel device does not sacrifice other specifications, such as sensitivity and nonlinearity, which are 59.4 fF/g and 0.88%, respectively, for a measuring range of ±15 g. The mechanical noise is analyzed theoretically and the calculated equivalent acceleration is about in the theoretical calculation. The fabrication tolerance is also analyzed and the fabrication process is introduced.…”

Nonlocal strain gradient torsion of elastic beams: variational formulation and constitutive boundary conditions

“…Nano-scale structures are extensively utilized in the design and manufacturing of modern nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) due to their superior features [1]. Torsional nanobeams are fundamental structural elements of pioneering nano-engineered devices such as micro-thruster of nano-satellites [2], bio-torsional actuator [3], torsional accelerometer [4] and viscosity and mass density sensor [5]. It is well established that the local elasticity theory cannot be adopted to capture mechanical responses of nano-continua, and consequently, a variety of size-dependent elasticity models are available in literature.…”

Nonlinear dynamics under varying temperature conditions of the resonating beams of a differential resonant accelerometer

“…On the other side, it is proved that a variation of the external temperature causes a shift of the resonant frequency of the resonators because of the variation of the silicon properties (see [23][24][25]) and some possible solutions to such issue have been already published (see [26,27]). Lee et al [28], for example, developed an environment-resistant packaging technology to improve the temperature robustness of MEMS sensors, while Li et al [26] and Xiao et al [29] reduced the temperature drift through novel configurations. Moreover, a significant amount of research has been devoted to study the temperature coefficient of frequency (TCf) of silicon [30][31][32] and some temperature compensation techniques [33][34][35] in micro-resonators.…”