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CLC number: TN304.12

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Received: 2008-10-31

Revision Accepted: 2009-01-21

Crosschecked: 2009-08-14

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Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE A 2009 Vol.10 No.10 P.1413-1420

http://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A0820757


An in-plane low-noise accelerometer fabricated with an improved process flow


Author(s):  Xu-dong ZHENG, Zhong-he JIN, Yue-lin WANG, Wei-jun LIN, Xiao-qi ZHOU

Affiliation(s):  Department of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Corresponding email(s):   brucezen@gmail.com, jinzh@zju.edu.cn

Key Words:  MEMS accelerometer, Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), Footing effect, Capacitive sensing


Xu-dong ZHENG, Zhong-he JIN, Yue-lin WANG, Wei-jun LIN, Xiao-qi ZHOU. An in-plane low-noise accelerometer fabricated with an improved process flow[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University Science A, 2009, 10(10): 1413-1420.

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author="Xu-dong ZHENG, Zhong-he JIN, Yue-lin WANG, Wei-jun LIN, Xiao-qi ZHOU",
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pages="1413-1420",
year="2009",
publisher="Zhejiang University Press & Springer",
doi="10.1631/jzus.A0820757"
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%T An in-plane low-noise accelerometer fabricated with an improved process flow
%A Xu-dong ZHENG
%A Zhong-he JIN
%A Yue-lin WANG
%A Wei-jun LIN
%A Xiao-qi ZHOU
%J Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE A
%V 10
%N 10
%P 1413-1420
%@ 1673-565X
%D 2009
%I Zhejiang University Press & Springer
%DOI 10.1631/jzus.A0820757

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T1 - An in-plane low-noise accelerometer fabricated with an improved process flow
A1 - Xu-dong ZHENG
A1 - Zhong-he JIN
A1 - Yue-lin WANG
A1 - Wei-jun LIN
A1 - Xiao-qi ZHOU
J0 - Journal of Zhejiang University Science A
VL - 10
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SP - 1413
EP - 1420
%@ 1673-565X
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PB - Zhejiang University Press & Springer
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DOI - 10.1631/jzus.A0820757


Abstract: 
We present a bulk micromachined in-plane capacitive accelerometer fabricated with an improved process flow, by etching only one-fifth of the wafer thickness at the back of the silicon while forming the bar-structure electrode for the sensing capacitor. The improved flow greatly lowers the footing effect during deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), and increases the proof mass by 54% compared to the traditional way, resulting in both improved device quality and a higher yield rate. Acceleration in the X direction is sensed capacitively by varying the overlapped area of a differential capacitor pair, which eliminates the nonlinear behavior by fixing the parallel-plate gap. The damping coefficient of the sensing motion is low due to the slide-film damping. A large proof mass is made using DRIE, which also ensures that dimensions of the spring beams in the Y and Z directions can be made large to lower cross axis coupling and increase the pull-in voltage. The theoretical Brownian noise floor is 0.47 μg/Hz1/2 at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The tested frequency response of a prototype complies with the low damping design scheme. Output data for input acceleration from −1 g to 1 g are recorded by a digital multimeter and show very good linearity. The tested random bias of the prototype is 130 μg at an averaging time of around 6 s.

Darkslateblue:Affiliate; Royal Blue:Author; Turquoise:Article

Reference

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[7] Jiang, X., Wang, F., Kraft, M., Boser, B.E., 2002. An Integrated Surface Micromachined Capacitive Lateral Accelerometer with 2 μG/√Hz Resolution. Solid-State Sensor, Actuator and Microsystems Workshop, p.202-205.

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[9] Wang, Y., Guo, Y., Zhang, H., 2007. Modeling and Simulation of Footing Effect in DRIE Process. Proc. 7th IEEE Int. Conf. on Nanotechnology, p.1135-1138.

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