Fabrication and Characteristics of a SOI Three-Axis Acceleration Sensor Based on MEMS Technology

Abstract

A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) piezoresistive three-axis acceleration sensor, consisting of four L-shaped beams, two intermediate double beams, two masses, and twelve piezoresistors, was presented in this work. To detect the acceleration vector (ax, ay, and az) along three directions, twelve piezoresistors were designed on four L-shaped beams and two intermediate beams to form three detecting Wheatstone bridges. A sensitive element simulation model was built using ANSYS finite element simulation software to investigate the cross-interference of sensitivity for the proposed sensor. Based on that, the sensor chip was fabricated on a SOI wafer by using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology and packaged on a printed circuit board (PCB). At room temperature and VDD = 5.0 V, the sensitivities of the sensor along x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis were 0.255 mV/g, 0.131 mV/g, and 0.404 mV/g, respectively. The experimental results show that the proposed sensor can realize the detection of acceleration along three directions.

Characteristics Research of a High Sensitivity Piezoelectric MOSFET Acceleration Sensor

“…The varistors are usually made into a Wheatstone bridge structure to improve the output sensitivity. The piezoresistive accelerometer has the advantages of good stability, wide measurement range, and is also limited by ambient temperature [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. A capacitive acceleration sensor is composed of fixed plates and movable plates.…”

Fabrication and Characteristic of a Double Piezoelectric Layer Acceleration Sensor Based on Li-Doped ZnO Thin Film

“…At present, the development of sensor technology has attracted worldwide attention and has been noted as a key technology related to the global economy and scientific and technological progress [1,2,3]. Work on sensors based on micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology has developed very rapidly, and has become a research hotspot and focus in related fields, including industry [4], agriculture [5], national defense [6], aerospace [7], transportation [8], family services [9], and other fields. As very important inertial sensors, acceleration sensors are extensively used in the military [10] and industrial [4] and commercial applications [11].…”

“…Work on sensors based on micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology has developed very rapidly, and has become a research hotspot and focus in related fields, including industry [4], agriculture [5], national defense [6], aerospace [7], transportation [8], family services [9], and other fields. As very important inertial sensors, acceleration sensors are extensively used in the military [10] and industrial [4] and commercial applications [11]. Piezoelectric acceleration sensors, also important, are widely used in many applications, such as flexible devices [11,12], structural health monitoring [13], seismic exploration [14], and biomedical products [15].…”

Editorial for the Special Issue on MEMS Accelerometers

“…There are 16 papers published covering the design, fabrication, modeling and applications of MEMS accelerometers. Half of the papers discuss accelerometer integration [1,2], piezoresistive sensing [3,4] multi-axis accelerometers, and review current technologies [4,5,6]. Three papers investigate MEMS accelerometer multi-physics modeling [7,8,9,10].…”

“…X. Hu et al [3] report on a family of silicon-on-insulator (SOI)–based high-g MEMS piezoresistive sensors for the measurement of accelerations up to 60,000 g. In this device, four piezoresistors are connected in a Wheatstone bridge to measure acceleration. X. Zhao et al [4] also develop a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) piezoresistive, three-axis acceleration sensor with demonstrated sensitivities along x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis of 0.255 mV/g, 0.131 mV/g, and 0.404 mV/g, respectively. A thermal convection-based accelerometer is fabricated and characterized by J. Kim et al [5].…”