High Frequency FM MEMS Accelerometer Using Piezoresistive Resonators

• Main Authors: Cláudia Coelho, João Gaspar, Luís A. Rocha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-11-01
• Series: Proceedings
• Subjects: MEMS resonant accelerometer; high-frequency accelerometer; piezoresistive resonators stiffness; and thus its resonance frequency; since there are two resonators; the acceleration measure is differential; increasing the device sensitivity; when an external
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/2/13/1048

A novel frequency modulated (FM) accelerometer based on piezoresistive resonators is presented. The accelerometer uses two differential resonators, connected to the accelerometer proofmass by an amplifying leverage mechanism. The piezoresistive double-mass resonators are electrostatically driven in anti-phase and the output signal is measured piezoresistively by applying a bias current to the connecting microbeam of the double-mass resonators. Accelerometers were fabricated using SOI technology with a 5 µm device layer. Fabricated resonators show a high resonance frequency around 705 kHz and a Q-factor close to 20,000 when measured in vacuum. Preliminary measurements show a sensitivity around 0.46 Hz/g for a single resonator.