A sensitive micromachined resonant accelerometer for moving-base gravimetry

Fang, Zhengxiang; Yin, Yanlong; Chen, Chen; Zhang, Shujuan; Liu, Yunfeng; Han, Fengtian

doi:10.1016/j.sna.2021.112694

Cited by 36 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…These results are the best-collected metrics for accelerometers employing the mode-localization paradigm to date, and they are also comparable with state-of-the-art frequency-modulated resonant accelerometers 21 , 46 . Further work on optimizing electronic noise, e.g., the power source noise that contributes to the Lorentzian profile of the resonator via bias and perturbation voltages, can be conducted to approach the ultraprecise level for the application of MEMS gravimeters 47 , 48 . This mode-localized accelerometer is the first to practically display the microseismic background in the frequency interval 0.1–0.5 Hz with a level of 300 ng/√Hz.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mode-localized accelerometer in the nonlinear Duffing regime with 75 ng bias instability and 95 ng/√Hz noise floor

Zhang

Pandit²,

Sobreviela³

et al. 2022

Microsyst Nanoeng

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Mode-localized sensors have attracted attention because of their high parametric sensitivity and first-order common-mode rejection to temperature drift. The high-fidelity detection of resonator amplitude is critical to determining the resolution of mode-localized sensors where the measured amplitude ratio in a system of coupled resonators represents the output metric. Operation at specific bifurcation points in a nonlinear regime can potentially improve the amplitude bias stability; however, the amplitude ratio scale factor to the input measurand in a nonlinear regime has not been fully investigated. This paper theoretically and experimentally elucidates the operation of mode-localized sensors with respect to stiffness perturbations (or an external acceleration field) in a nonlinear Duffing regime. The operation of a mode-localized accelerometer is optimized with the benefit of the insights gained from theoretical analysis with operation in the nonlinear regime close to the top critical bifurcation point. The phase portraits of the amplitudes of the two resonators under different drive forces are recorded to support the experimentally observed improvements for velocity random walk. Employing temperature control to suppress the phase and amplitude variations induced by the temperature drift, 1/f noise at the operation frequency is significantly reduced. A prototype accelerometer device demonstrates a noise floor of 95 ng/√Hz and a bias instability of 75 ng, establishing a new benchmark for accelerometers employing vibration mode localization as a sensing paradigm. A mode-localized accelerometer is first employed to record microseismic noise in a university laboratory environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mode-localized accelerometer in the nonlinear Duffing regime with 75 ng bias instability and 95 ng/√Hz noise floor

Zhang

Pandit²,

Sobreviela³

et al. 2022

Microsyst Nanoeng

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“…Further miniaturizations and improvements of the MEMS gravimeter, including the implementation of a ceramic vacuum package and a bespoke FPGA board, can result in an increased portability and a reduction in cost, enabling MEMS gravimeters to be used for mineral exploration, geology and other geophysical applications. > REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MANUSCRIPT ID NUMBER (DOUBLE-CLICK HERE TO EDIT) < Bias Instability [21] 7.35 Hz 18 μGal/√Hz@1 Hz 0.2 mK 8 μGal@~400 s <20 μGal@10-1000 s [22] ~3.1 Hz 8 μGal/√Hz@1 Hz N/A 13.5 μGal@20 s <20 μGal@10-1000 s [24] ~1 kHz 100 μGal/√Hz@1 Hz ±250 μK@ 50℃ 9 μGal@1000 s <50 μGal@10-1000 s [25] kHz 75 ng/√Hz@0.5 Hz ±0.01℃@ 45℃ 17 ng@70 s <30 ng@10-1000 s [40] N/A 10 ng/√Hz@1 Hz ±0.001℃@ 40℃ 7 ng@900 s <40 ng@10-1000 s This work ~14 Hz 1.2 μGal/√Hz@1 Hz 0.4 mK/√Hz@1 mHz 3 μGal@80 s <8 μGal@10-1000 s…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A wafer-level vacuum encapsulation of a vibrating beam MEMS accelerometer with a three-stage temperature control was proposed by Mustafazade et al, and recorded the Earth tides and teleseismic events, validating its capability for gravity measurements [24]. More recently, by optimizing the resonator, micro-level and suspension beam structures, a resonant MEMS accelerometer sealed in a hermetic ceramic case within a temperature control chamber was demonstrated by Zheng et al with a bias stability of 0.197 μg/day [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

A Highly Stable and Sensitive MEMS-Based Gravimeter for Long-Term Earth Tides Observations

Yang

Wang

et al. 2022

IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas.

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Precision measurements of local gravitational acceleration variations are of great importance in geophysical surveys. With advantages such as cost-effectiveness and portability, Micro-Electro-Mechanical system (MEMS)-based gravimeters have shown the potential for long-term gravity measurements. In this paper, aiming to further improve the stability of the instrument, the design considerations and system evaluations of a MEMS gravimeter are presented. With a linear spring design for the silicon proof-mass, a low natural frequency of ~14 Hz and a large linear range of ~10300 mGal are achieved with an ultra-low self-noise floor of 1.2 μGal/√Hz@1 Hz. By implementing a vacuum chamber system, the pressure variation is reduced from hundreds of Pa/day in atmosphere to a linear variation of ~6 Pa/day. In addition, an active temperature control system can suppress temperature fluctuations by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude within the band from 1×10 -4 Hz to 1×10 -2 Hz. The stability of the proposed MEMS gravimeter is demonstrated via long-term Earth tides observations within a 30-day time span, giving a correlation coefficient of 0.957 with the reference. An excellent bias instability of ≤4 μGal is demonstrated within the 8-3000 s averaging time range, representing one of the best performances to date in terms of stability for MEMS gravimeters. This shows the potential of high-performance MEMS gravimeters for petroleum and mineral prospecting, seismology and other geophysical applications.

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“…Due to the interaction between the geometry nonlinearity (mid-plane stretching) and the force nonlinearity, the curved structure exhibits multiple stable equilibria, snap-through motion and pull-in instabilities along with modal interaction [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. It is well acknowledged that there are abundant nonlinear phenomena in MEMS while extending the micro-devices driving forces into the nonlinear regimes [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Essentially, a large excitation will significantly increase the vibration amplitude and thus improve the performance of such devices [ 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation into Mode Localization of Electrostatically Coupled Shallow Microbeams for Potential Sensing Applications

Alneamy

Ouakad

2022

Micromachines

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With the constant need for the development of smart devices, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) based smart sensors have been developed to detect hazard materials, micro-particles or even toxic substances. Identifying small particles using such micro-engineering technology requires designing sensors with high sensitivity, selectivity and ease of integration with other electronic components. Nevertheless, the available detection mechanism designs are still juvenile and need more innovative ideas to be even more competitive. Therefore, this work aims to introduce a novel, smart and innovative micro-sensor design consisting of two weakly electrostatically coupled microbeams (both serving as sensors) and electrically excited using a stationary electrode assuming a dc/ac electric signal. The sensor design can be tuned from straight to eventually initially curved microbeams. Such an arrangement would develop certain nonlinear phenomena, such as the snap-through motion. This behavior would portray certain mode veering/mode crossing and ultimately mode localization and it would certainly lead in increasing the sensitivity of the mode-localized based sensing mechanism. These can be achieved by tracking the change in the resonance frequencies of the two microbeams as the coupling control parameter is varied. To this extent, a nonlinear model of the design is presented, and then a reduced-order model considering all geometric and electrical nonlinearities is established. A Long-Time Integration (LTI) method is utilized to solve the static and dynamics of the coupled resonators under primary lower-order and higher-order resonances, respectively. It is shown that the system can display veering and mode coupling in the vicinity of the primary resonances of both beams. Such detected modal interactions lead to an increase in the sensitivity of the sensor design. In addition, the use of two different beam’s configurations in one device uncovered a possibility of using this design in detecting two potential substances at the same time using the two interacting resonant peaks.

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A sensitive micromachined resonant accelerometer for moving-base gravimetry

Cited by 36 publications

References 20 publications

Mode-localized accelerometer in the nonlinear Duffing regime with 75 ng bias instability and 95 ng/√Hz noise floor

Mode-localized accelerometer in the nonlinear Duffing regime with 75 ng bias instability and 95 ng/√Hz noise floor

A Highly Stable and Sensitive MEMS-Based Gravimeter for Long-Term Earth Tides Observations

Investigation into Mode Localization of Electrostatically Coupled Shallow Microbeams for Potential Sensing Applications

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