UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

Design of Micromachined
Accelerometer

ELEC6111 – MEMS SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

-
3/22/2010

Bishwojit Konsam
23656484
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SUMMARY OF MICROMACHINED ACCELEROMETERS AND GYROSCOPES
I. INTRODUCTION It is based on the principle of shifting of frequency due to
transfer of energy from inertial force to axial force on the
T HE microelectromechanical (MEMS) inertial sensor
systems are one of the most important silicon based
sensors. It consists of accelerometers and gyroscopes. The
resonant beam. It has high sensitivity. It is very stable and
gives a digital output. However, it has a small bandwidth.
5) Thermal Devices
accelerometer measures the rate of change of velocity and the
It working principle is based on the temperature flux from
gyroscope measures the rate of change of angle or rotation.
heater to heat sink proportionality to its separation. The
The automotive industry has the highest demand of temperature is measured using thermopiles.
accelerometer; however, the inertial microsensors can be 6) Other devices
applied to many other fields ranging from image stabilization There are other reported accelerometers based on other
in cameras to biomedical applications to oil exploration and principles. Some of them are optics and silicon
earthquake prediction. micromachined accelerometer, electromagnetic accelerometer
and piezoelectric accelerometer.
II. MICROMACHINED ACCELEROMETERS The performance of various accelerometers is listed in table 1:
Table 1: Various accelerometers and its comparison
A. Structure, Operation and Specifications
The structure of an accelerometer consists of a movable poof Parameters Piezoresistive Capacitive Tunneling Resonant
mass which is suspended by beams with an effective spring Sensitivity 1-2MV/g 2pF-20fF/g 700Hz/g
constant attached to a stable fixed frame. The dynamic Range 20-50g 4-5g --
TCS 0.2%/⁰C 150ppm/⁰C 0.5%/⁰C --
movement of the mass is damped by air in between. When an Resolution -- 1µg 4mg-100 ng --
external acceleration is applied, the frame displaces with (/sqrt(Hz))
relative to the proof mass and changes the internal stress in the Bandwidth -- 0-100Hz 2.5 kHz to --
suspension beam. The displacement or the beam stress is Several kHz
utilized to measure the applied acceleration. The suspension Bulk or bulk Both bulk bulk bulk
surface and surface
system can be cantilever or a full bridge suspension. An Open or Open loop Open loop, Closed loop Closed loop
accelerometer is specified depending on their sensitivity, close loop close loop
maximum operating range, frequency response, resolution, full Output Voltage Capacitance Current Frequency
scale non linearity, offset, off axis sensitivity and shock Read out Half-full Capacitance Current to Digital
circuitry bridge read out voltage counter
survival. convertor
B. Classification of Device C. Packaging and Interface circuits
An accelerometer can be classified depending on their Accelerometers are based on the movement of its sensor
transduction mechanism as below: elements and packaging is very important to protect the sensor
1) Piezoelectric Devices structure without introducing significant drift or stress or
The first micromachined accelerometer was piezoresistive and affecting the frequency response and temperature sensibility.
was one of the first to be commercialized. It consists of a Ceramic hermetic, plastic and metals has been used for
suspension beam with embedded Si piezoresistor. It uses the packaging. The performance is improved if the packing is
internal stress for detection. The piezoresistors form a half or a done at the wafer level.
full bridge for detection. It has simple structure and fabrication The signal from the sensor is read out by an interface circuit.
process and also simple read out circuit. However, it has large The read out circuit could be either open loop or close loop. In
temperature sensitivity, low overall sensitivity and so needs a an open loop circuit, the overall linearity, bandwidth, dynamic
big proof mass. range from the sensor cannot be improved. However, in a
2) Capacitive Devices closed loop, they can be improved. Open loop circuit has a
In a capacitive accelerometer the deflection of the proof mass simple circuitry and is stable below the natural frequency of
is utilized for detection. The capacitance is measured by using the sensor. The close loop circuit has complex circuitry. Its
electrical circuit. It can be fabricated in large volume and so mechanism can be based on phase locked loop, analog, pulsed
low cost. It also has a high precision, high sensitivity, low width modulation or sigma delta modulation.
drift, low temperature sensitivity, low power dissipation and
simple structure. However, it is susceptible to electromagnetic A. Commercialization, Challenges and Future Trends
interference and so needs a good packaging. It can be divided The major driving force in development of accelerometer is its
into vertical or lateral type depending on the direction of its applicability in automobile industry. Some of the automobile
sensitivity. accelerometer manufacturers are Analog Devices, Motorola,
3) Tunneling Devices Delco and Ford, CSEM and Endevco.
In a tunneling accelerometer, the applied acceleration causes a
deflection. A deflection voltage is applied to the bottom III. MICROMACHINED GYROSCOPES
electrode to move the beam in its original position. This
voltage gives the acceleration. It is small in size and has a high A. Operating Principles and Specifications
sensitivity. However, it has high low frequency noise and Micromachined gyroscopes are mostly based on vibrating
needs high voltage to operate. mechanical elements to monitor the rotation. It doesn’t have
4) Resonant Devices any rotating parts. Its working is based on transfer of energy
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between two vibrating modes of a structure caused by Coriolis Daimler Benz develop a piezo-electrically actuate piezo-
acceleration. Coriolis acceleration can be defined as the resistively detected tuning fork gyroscope. It measures the
apparent acceleration which is proportional to the rate of shear stress in the stem of the tuning fork. Another tuning fork
rotation. device was developed with two vibrating mass which is
The performance of a gyroscope is determined by resolution, electromagnetically actuated and piezoresistively detected
drift, zero-rate-output (ZRO) and scale factor. The gyroscope bulk micromachined. It was vacuum packed.
based on the performance can be classified in to 3 categories: 2. Vibrating beam gyroscope
Inertial grade device, Tactical grade device and Rate-grade A z-axis, surface micromachined electrostatically actuated and
device and their performance requirement are listed in table 2. differentially sensed vibrating beam gyroscope was developed
Some the examples of inertial grade devices are optical at Berkeley. Similar device was developed by Samsung using
gyroscope, ring laser gyroscope hemi-spherical resonator and 7 micron thick polysilicon resonating mass supported by 4 fish
that of tactical is fiber optic gyroscope. These devices has high hook shaped springs.
performance, however, they are bulky and expensive. The Murata developed another surface micromachined x-y axis,
rate-grade gyroscope can be applied in automotive industry open looped gyroscope. The sense electrode was buried under
and micromachined gyroscopes are being developed to the resonating electrode. Samsung developed similar device in
provide rate grade performance. 1997 with 7.5 micron thick resonating electrode. The device
Table 2: Different class of gyroscope with their performance operated in vacuum.
requirement 3. Vibrating shell gyroscope
General motors and university of Michigan developed a
Parameters Rate grade Tactical grade Inertial grade
Angle random >0.5 0.5-0.005 <0.001
vibrating ring gyroscope. It consists of a ring, semicircular
walk, ⁰/√h support springs and drive; sense and balance electrodes. It
Bias drift, ⁰/h 10-1000 0.1-10 <0.01 requires at least 8 springs for balance and symmetry. It was
Scale factor 0.1-1 0.01-0.1 <0.001 electrostatically actuated in plane which form elliptically
accuracy, % shaped primary flexural mode with fixed amplitude. When
Full scale range, 50-1000 >500 >400
rotated, it changes from primary to secondary flexural mode.
(⁰/s)
Max. Shock in 1 103 103-104 103 This causes amplitude to build up proportionally in the
ms, g’s secondary mode which is sensed capacitively. This device is
Bandwidth, Hz >70 ~100 ~100 less sensitive to spurious vibrations, has high sensitivity and
low temperature sensitivity.
B. Classification of Micromachined Vibratory Gyroscopes
A number of micromachined vibratory gyroscope has been C. Design Issue and considerations.
demonstrated over the years. The Charles Stark Draper Gyroscope can be operated in either open loop or closed loop.
laboratory demonstrated the first batch micromachined In open loop, response is slow and so low bandwidth. In
gyroscope. It can be classified based on their structure (energy closed loop, band width and dynamic range can be increased
transfer mechanism), actuation mechanism sensing beyond open loop values. In order to improve the performance
mechanism and fabrication type as listed in table 3: of the gyroscope, efforts have been made to improve
resolution, drift, ZRO, scale factor, electronic circuits for
Table 3: Types of Gyroscope depending on different parameters sensing and actuation; structural imperfections and minimize
external and internal energy losses.
Types of Gyroscope based on
Structure Actuation Sensing Fabrication technique
mechanism mechanism IV. CONCLUSIONS
Tuning Electrostatic Piezoresistive Bulk micromachining Micromachined inertial sensors have progressed rapidly since
fork and wafer bonding
Vibrating Electromagnetic Capacitive Surface
it was first demonstrated in 1979 by researchers at Stanford
beam micromachining University. Many technical obstacles have been resolved in
Vibrating Piezoelectric Piezoelectric Electrofoaming and areas of fabrication, interface and readout circuit, assembly
shell LIGA and packing to provide a cheap and reliable micomachined
-- -- Optical Combined Bulk and
initial sensors available today. Microaccelerometers are now
Surface
micromachining manufactured in large volumes resulting in low cost. It has
been shown to be extreme reliable and has incorporated many
The classification depending on the structure is further functions including self testing. Microgyroscope has adopted
discussed below many technologies from accelerometer and since 1991 its
1. Tuning Fork gyroscope performance has been improved by a factor of 10 every 2
A tuning fork gyroscope consists of 2 tines connected by a years. It can be concluded that in the coming year
junction bar. The tines are differentially resonated at fixed microgyroscope will be able to provide inertial grade
amplitude. When rotated, the tines develop differential performance. In the future, research will be focused on
sinusoidal force due to the Coriolis force. This force is developing low noise and low drift interface circuits, higher
detected either by differential bending of tuning fork tine or performance, lower cost, lower power inertial sensor for wide
torsional vibration of the tuning fork stem. range of applications.
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Design of a Micromachined Accelerometer

Bishwojit Konsam, MSc Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology

Abstract—A high sensitive differential capacitive

accelerometer design has been proposed. The structure is based
on symmetric bridge suspension and its fabrication flow has been
presented. The accelerometer presented has a sensitivity of 0.1
pF/G and resolution of 3.1192 x 10-4 m/s2 . Read out circuitry has
also been designed for both open loop as well as closed loop
system. The open loop control system has an integrator,
synchronous modulator and a low pass filter.
Index Terms—Accelerometer, differential capacitive, high
sensitivity Figure 1 Mechanical equivalent model of proof mass

𝑥 𝑠 1 1
𝐻 𝑠 = = = 𝜔𝑟 (1)
I. INTRODUCTION 𝑎 𝑠 𝑏 𝐾 2
𝑠 + 𝑠 + 𝜔𝑟 2
𝑠2 + 𝑠 + 𝑄
𝑚 𝑚
T HE micromachined accelerometer has been progressing
since it was first demonstrated in 1979 at Stanford
University. The present day accelerometers are made possible
where x is the displacement, 𝜔𝑟 = 𝐾/𝑚 is the natural
resonance frequency, 𝑄 = √(𝐾𝑚 )/𝑏 = (𝜔𝑟 𝑚)/𝑏 is the
only after solving a number of technical obstacles in quality factor. The static sensitivity is given by [9]
𝑥𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚 1
fabrication, interface and read-out circuits; structural design = = 2 (2)
and packaging. These accelerometers have been proved to be 𝑎 𝐾 𝜔𝑟
extremely reliable. However, they lack high sensitivity and C. Resolution
precision. Because of these reason efforts has been put to The mechanical noise mostly comes from the Brownian
achieve high sensitivity and precision accelerometers. motion which also defines the resolution of the system. The
The accelerometers has a very broad range of application such total noise equivalent (TNEA) is given by [9]
as automotive industry, inertial navigation and guidance,
virtual reality games, microgravity measurement and image 4𝐾𝐵 𝑇𝐷 4𝐾𝐵 𝑇𝜔𝑟
𝑇𝑁𝐸𝐴 = = (3)
stabilization in cameras. There have been a number of 𝑚 𝑄𝑚
accelerometer designs presented till now but a very few high Where KB is the Boltzman constant and T is the absolute
precision accelerometers has been demonstrated [1, 8]. A temperature. This is the minimum detectable signal of the
capacitive accelerometer [1, 6] has high sensitivity, good dc accelerometer. The unit TNEA is g/√Hz. The resolution of an
response, low noise, low drift, low temperature sensitivity, open looped accelerometer is given by TNEA
low power dissipation and large readout bandwidth over high
D. Critical Damping
precision resonant [7] and tunneling accelerometer [8].
There are two ways to achieve a high performance From equation (1), the system will be critically damped if
𝐷 𝐾
accelerometer. Firstly, to operate the accelerometer in closed 𝑠 2 + 𝑠 + = 0 (4)
loop operation to satisfy the dynamic range, linearity and 𝑚 𝑚
𝜕𝑥 𝑏 4𝐾
bandwidth. Secondly, to design an open loop accelerometer ∆= = ( )2 − (5)
with very precise structure with very less mechanical 𝜕𝑡 𝑚 𝑚
Form this equation, it can be observed that the system is
imperfections and so very good sensitivity and very low
critically damped if 𝑏 = 2√𝐾𝑚 . The system is under-damped
mechanical noise.
if 𝑏 < 2√𝐾𝑚 and over damped if 𝑏 > 2√𝐾𝑚 . In other
A. The mass word, for a critically damped system the mass should be big
Let L be the length, W be the width and T be the thickness of enough to give the sensitivity and small enough to be
the proof mass. The density of silicon den =2300 kg/m3 compatible with damping coefficient.
Mass, m= L x W x T x den E. Nominal Capacitance

B. Resonant Frequency Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is given by

The transfer function based on Newton’s 2nd law and 𝐴𝜀𝑜
𝐶= (6)
accelerometer model is given by [9] 𝑑0 − 𝑥
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G. Effective Spring Constant

Figure 2: Differential capacitor formed between electrode and

proof mass

In the figure, the change in capacitance of the two capacitors

can be evaluated as [10]
𝐴𝜀𝑜
𝐶1 = (7)
𝑑0 − 𝑥
𝐴𝜀𝑜 Figure 3: Cantilever suspension system
𝐶2 = (8)
𝑑0 + 𝑥 Consider a cantilever of length l, width w and thickness t.
where εo is the permittivity of air, x is the displacement, A
area of the proof mass and d0 is the gap between the electrode The spring constant of cantilever is given by [11]
and the mass. So change in capacitance due to change in
displacement is given by 𝐸𝑤𝑡 3
𝐾= (17)
𝐴𝜀𝑜 𝐴𝜀𝑜 2𝐴𝜀𝑜𝑥 4𝑙 3
2𝛥𝐶 = 𝐶1 − 𝐶2 = − = 2 Where E is the Young modulus of silicon=129 GPa.
𝑑0 − 𝑥 𝑑0 + 𝑥 𝑑0 − 𝑥 2
2𝐴𝜀𝑜𝑥 H. Damping Coefficient
= 2 9
𝑑0 − 𝑥 2 The air in between the electrode and the mass produces
where 𝛥𝐶 is change in capacitance due to change in
squeezed film damping. The damping coefficient is given by
acceleration. For d02 >>x2, the equation can be rewritten as
[12]
𝐴𝜀𝑜𝑥 𝑏 = (0.42𝜇𝐴^2)/𝑑^3 (18)
𝛥𝐶 = (10) If 𝜎 = (12𝜇𝐴^2)/𝑑^3 ≪ 1
𝑑02 where ζ is the squeeze number, A area of the electrode, µ
Rate of change of capacitance with respect to change in
displacement is given by viscosity of air, p atmospheric pressure and d is the air gap.
𝑑𝛥𝐶 𝛥𝐶 𝐴𝜀𝑜 A high sensitive open loop capacitive accelerometer has
= = 2 (11) been proposed. The structure has large proof mass and is
𝑑𝑥 𝑥 𝑑0
fabricated using DRIE process which makes it very precise
F. Sensitivity and few imperfections in the structure. The fabrication flow
Sensitivity of the accelerometer can be defined as the change has been presented almost every step. The control system is
in the capacitance with the change applied acceleration, a. It also presented for both open loop and closed loop operations.
can be mathematically represented by
𝑑𝛥𝐶 II. MICROMACHINED ACCELEROMETER FABRICATION FLOW
𝑠= 12
𝑑𝑎 The fabrication flow of the accelerometer has been proposed.
But displacement sensitivity which is defined as the change in
displacement of the accelerometer proof mass with change in The structure of the accelerometer has been adapted from [10].
the applied acceleration is given by [10] The fabrication flow of the proposed structure is listed below:
𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑚
= = (13) A. N type <100> low resistivity silicon wafer of 50 nm
𝑎 𝑑𝑎 𝐾
Combining equation 10, 11 and 12 sensitivity is given by thickness is selected as the starting material.
𝑑𝛥𝐶 𝑑𝛥𝐶 𝑑𝑥 𝐴𝜀𝑜 𝑚 B. Align the wafer to <110> direction of the wafer:
𝑠= = × = (14)
𝑑𝑎 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑎 𝑑02 𝐾 C. Clean the wafer by undergoing RCA-1.
Equation 11 can be rewritten as D. Deposit SiO2 on both front and back side of the
𝐾
𝑎 = 𝑥 (15) wafer using thermal oxide growth.
𝑚 E. Spin primer.
This implies that the maximum measurable acceleration is
limited by the deflection of the proof mass. So the maximum F. Spin resist on the both front and back side of the
measurable acceleration will be limited by the gap between the wafer and then soft bake.
electrode and the proof mass. The dynamic range is given by G. Align and expose the resist using appropriate mask
𝐾 and then develop the resist.
𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑑0 (16)
𝑚 H. Hard bake and Inspection.
I. Dry Etch SiO2.
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J. Strip resist by using acetone.

K. Clean the wafer by undergoing RCA-1.
L. Anisotropic dry etch Si to remove 1µm from each
side of the wafer.
M. Spin primer.
N. Spray coat first resist on the back side of the wafer
and then soft bake.
O. Align and expose the resist using appropriate mask Figure 6 Spin resist
and then develop the resist.
P. Hard bake and inspection.
Q. Spin primer.
R. Spray coat second resist on the back side of the wafer
and then soft bake.
S. Align and expose the resist using appropriate mask
and then develop the resist.
T. Hard bake and inspection.
U. Etch Si to remove 5-10µm from back side of the
wafer using DRIE.
V. Strip resist by using appropriate solution.
W. Etch Si to through the wafer from back side using
DRIE. Figure 7 Align and expose the resist
X. Strip resist by using acetone.
Y. Clean the wafer by undergoing RCA-1.
Z. Bond the upper and lower glass structure containing
top and bottom electrodes with the resultant structure
using anodic bonding.

The fabrication flow is represented in pictorial form as under.

Figure 8 1st mask used

Figure 4: Low resistivity n <100> type Silicon wafer

Figure 9 Develop resist

Figure 5 Thermal oxide growth

Figure 10 Dry Etch SiO2

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Figure 11 Strip resist Figure 16 Develop resist

Figure 12 Anisotropic dry etch Si Figure 17 Spray coat first resist 2 on top of resist one

Figure 13 Spray coat first resist 1 on back side of wafer Figure 18 Align and expose the resist

Figure 14 Align and expose the resist

Figure 19 The 3rd mask

Figure 15 The 2nd mask

Figure 20 Develop resist
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Figure 26 Wet Etch SiO2

Figure 21 DRIE Si etch

Figure 22 Strip 2nd resist

Figure 27 Glass structures with top and bottom electrode and the
silicon proof mass
Figure 23 DRIE Si etch

Figure 24 Strip 1st resist

Figure 28 Anodic Bonding of the silicon proof mass structure and

glass structure with top and bottom electrode

III. DESIGNING THE ACCELEROMETER

A. Specification of the accelerometer
The given specifications of the open loop accelerometer is
Bandwidth B= 500Hz
Sensitivity s = 0.1pF/G
Dynamic range amax= +/- 10G
Minimum detectable acceleration, amin =1mG.
Density of silicon, den= 2300 kg/m3
Information that can be extracted from the specifications are
The natural resonance should be greater than 500Hz
The rate of change of capacitor with respect to acceleration is
0.1pF/G
The TNEA should be less than 1mG.
Figure 25 Top view of the accelerometer structure
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B. Assumptions made and calculated parameters

Swapping the resonant frequency from 1 to 25 kHz and gap

distance from 0.5 to 2 micron, the area of the proof mass
required to get a sensitivity of 0.1 pF/g has been calculated
and plotted as in figure 29.

Figure 30: Differential output capacitance for dynamic range

Figure 29: Required proof mass area for a sensitivity of 0.1pF/g

From the graph, at 5kHz and d0=1 µm, the required area is A=
5.689x 10-7 m2.
Considering length and width to be equal
Length, L = width, W=760 µm.
Considering thickness of proof mass, T as 500 µm and the
length of suspension beam = 900 µm and its width as 20 µm.
No. of suspension beams in the accelerometer = 8.
The calculated values of the accelerometer are listed in the
table 4
Table 4: Calculated parameters of accelerometer

Parameter Unit Value

gap µm 1 Figure 31: Bode plot of the accelerometer
Nominal F 1.0708x 10-11
capacitance
Mass kg 2.2264x 10-6
C. Further improvements
spring constant N/m 2.1974 x 103
Damping 11.3761
coefficient First the system is not critically damped as the value of
Maximum m 9.9295 x 10 -8 damping coefficient doesn’t satisfy the critically damping
deflection condition. The system need to be critically damped to get
Quality factor 0.0081 maximum bandwidth. The thickness of the proof mass to get a
critical damping comes out to be 31055 µm which is not
TNEA m/s2 1.9495x 10-4
practical for an accelerometer. This is because as the area of
Sensitivity pF/G 0.10151
the proof mass increases, the damping coefficient increases
Maximum G 100
rapidly while the mass does not as it depends on the thickness
acceleration
too.
tolerable
The system is over-damped as the quality factor is very low.
Thickness of the µm 16.906 The quality factor can be improved by either increasing the
beam mass of the proof mass without increasing its area, i.e. by
increasing the thickness which is not practical. The other way
is to reduce the damping. This can be achieve by making
The output differential capacitance for the full dynamic range damping holes on the proof mass as well as on the electrodes
of the accelerometer is plotted in fig. 30. The bode plot of the [1].
device is also plotted in fig 31.
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𝐶 𝑥 𝑑𝑉 𝑉𝜕𝐶 𝑑𝑥
𝑖𝐶 = + (22 )
𝑑𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝑑𝑡
IV. DESIGNING CAPACITIVE POSITION INTERFACE CIRCUIT
The accelerometer design presented is based on parallel plate where δC/δx gives the total displacement from all axis.
differential capacitance principle. The deflection in the proof A simple transimpedance amplifier can be designed to
mass due to external applied acceleration causes variation in measure the capacitance.
the capacitance. The capacitance variation is proportional to
the change to the deflection as reflected from equation (10).

Figure 33 Transimpedance amplifier

In the figure 33, Cp is the parasitic capacitance from

interconnect between the sensor and the amplifier. In this
circuit the current through Cp is very less because of virtual
grounding at the op-amp input. The output voltage of the
Figure 32: Typical differential capacitance circuit amplifier is given by Vy =-Rf iC.

A typical differential capacitance circuit is shown in the above When a DC voltage is applied, Vy is proportional to dx/dt,
fig 32. The circuit gives a zero capacitance when there is no which gives the velocity and not the position. In order to
deflection i.e. at the balance point. The differential circuit measure, the position a time varying voltage should be used.
cancels many nonlinear effects and gives a sign that gives the In our design, we are using a 5V sinusoidal signal of 100kHz.
direction of the motion [11]. The gap of the upper capacitor Consider a sinusoidal signal Vs=Vso cos ωt. Then output of
and the lower capacitor is considered as G1 and G2. The two the amplifier will be Vy= -ωVsoC(x) sin ωt. Since C(x) has a
capacitors are assumed to have the same area. When a voltage velocity component, the output would be mixture of position
of +Vs and –Vs are applied to the upper and lower electrode, information and the velocity component if they are of
the output voltage Vo is given by comparable size. The velocity component can be neglected if
the frequency of the applied voltage is sufficiently large.
𝐶1 𝐶1−𝐶2
𝑉𝑥 = −𝑉𝑠 + 2𝑉𝑠 = 𝑉𝑠 (19)
𝐶1+𝐶2 𝐶1+𝐶2 When the source voltage is applied, it creates an electrostatic
force which changes the position of the proof mass. The
As the areas of the capacitor are equal, the equation can be magnitude of the force is ½(δC/δx)Vs2. The frequency of the
rewritten as applied voltage should be far more than the natural frequency
𝑑1−𝑑2 𝑥
of the proof mass so the high frequency component produces
𝑉𝑥 = 𝑉𝑠 = 𝑉𝑠 (20) negligible motion to the proof mass [x]. For accurate
𝑑1+𝑑2 𝑑0
measurement, the magnitude of the applied voltage should be
where d1 and d2 are the resultant air gap after the deflection. sufficiently low so that the position disturbance can be
So, when the two gaps are equal the output voltage is equal to neglected. The disturbance can be corrected by adding a
zero. However, when the proof mass deflects, one of the feedback capacitor Cf parallel to Rf as in figure 34.
capacitance is greater than the other and so gives an output
voltage which is a linear function of the deviation.
The charge voltage relationship for a capacitor which is
considered to be a linear function of proof mass deflection is
given by[11].

𝑄 = 𝐶 𝑥 𝑉 (21 )

where Q is the capacitor charge, v is the voltage across the

capacitor, x is the displacement of the proof mass and C(x) is
the capacitance that depends on the displacement of the proof
mass. The current in the capacitor can be written as Figure 34 Integrator
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In the circuit, Rf is chosen such that ωRfCf is much higher

than unity. Here, ω is the frequency of the applied voltage.
The output of the circuit is

𝑖𝐶 𝐶 𝑥 𝐶1 − 𝐶2
𝑉𝑦 ≈ − 𝑉𝑠 ≈ = 𝑉𝑠 (23 )
𝐶𝑓 𝐶𝑓 𝐶𝑓
Rf is used to provide DC feedback to the input of op-amp so
that the DC value at the inverting input is at virtual ground.
With this measuring circuit, the velocity depended component
of the current can be ignored. However, the output voltage of Figure 36: Conversion of acceleration to output voltage
the measuring circuit is a sinusoidal signal whose amplitude is
propositional to the change in capacitance. The amplitude can The relationship between the output voltage and the applied
be extracted by using a peak detector or a synchronous acceleration is shown in figure 36.
detector. The applied voltage is a 5V sinusoidal signal with a frequency
In the design, the synchronous demodulator is selected as the of 100 kHz. The noise power spectral density of the front end
output of the peak detector contains some high frequency amplifier is given to be 5nV/√Hz.
ripple [11]. A synchronous demodulator circuit demodulates a This implies that resolution of the electrical circuit is be
periodic waveform. A synchronous demodulator consists of an 5nV/√Hz while the mechanical resolution is given TNEA. The
analog multiplier with one input being the modulated signal resultant voltage output for the sensor signal equal to TNEA
and the other being a sinusoidal signal or a pulsed signal at the according to eq 25 is given by
same frequency as the carrier. Considering the sinusoidal 𝐶1 − 𝐶2
𝑉𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 2
output of the amplifier as A(t) cos ωt where A(t) is a function 𝐶𝑓
𝑉𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
of C(t). When this signal is multiplied by another sinusoidal 2
signal of same frequency, say, B cos (ωt+Φ), where Φ is the Considering Cf = C1+C2 and from eq 20
𝑥
phase change then the output of the multiplier can be 𝑉𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 2
𝑉𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑑𝑜 = 1.2412 × 10−4 𝑉
calculated as 2
𝑉𝑜 ′ = 𝐴 𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 ∗ 𝑉𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 + ∅ Since Vomin is 5 magnitude higher than the noise power
𝐴 𝑡 𝐵 spectral density of the front end amplifier, it can be conclude
= 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ − cos 2𝜔𝑡 + ∅ (24)
2 that the required minimum detectable acceleration can be met
𝐶1−𝐶2
Where 𝐴 𝑡 = 𝑉𝑠(𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒) and B=Vs(amplitude) with this interface circuit.
𝐶𝑓
The output voltage for the full dynamic range of the
The value of Φ will be zero for an integrator. When this output
accelerometer has been calculated and plotted as shown in
is passed through a low pass filter which rejects corner
figure 37
frequency of 2ω, then the output of the filter will be
𝐶1 − 𝐶2
𝐴 𝑡 𝐵 𝑉𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 2
𝐶𝑓
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ = (25)
2 2
This output signal contains the A(t) component which gives
the position of the proof mass.
The final design for the measurement of differential
capacitance consists of an integrator, a synchronous
demodulator and a low pass filter. The block diagram of an
open loop differential capacitance measurement circuit is
shown in figure 35.

Figure 37: output voltage for full dynamic range of the

accelerometer

V. DESIGNING A CLOSED LOOPED FORCE FEEDBACK SYSTEM

A close loop accelerometer consists of a sensing element, a

circuit to measure the capacitive pick-off and a force feedback
Figure 35 The schematic diagram for open loop differential system to provide electrostatic force for reset. The sensing
capacitance measurement element is made up of a proof mass suspended in between two
fixed electrodes as in open loop system which forms

capacitive half bridge. The differential capacitive signal is
picked up by the pick-off circuit from the half bridge. Closed
loop control can be classified into analogue and digital
transducer design. As the name suggest, an analogue
transducer uses analog signal and digital transducer uses
digital signal to reset as well as pick up signal in analogue and
digital form. In both control system, the electrostatic force
required for reset of proof mass is generated by applying a
feedback voltage to the proof mass and for proper working of
the system, multiplexing between the pick off and reset signal
is necessary[13].
Figure 38: Closed loop signal pick off arrangement for analogue
transducer
An analogue pick off consists of a charge amplifier, a buffer
amplifier, phase shift demodulator and a 500 Hz low pass
filter. The output of the charge amplifier gives an amplitude
modulated signal of the sensor signal at the supplied voltage
frequency (100 kHz).the charge amplifier should have atleast
twice the bandwidth of the transducer and should have its
overall bandwidth centered at the carrier frequency. The
bandwidth of the pick off circuit should be at least a
magnitude higher than the sensor. A typical analogue pick off
circuit is shown in figure 38 [13].
Figure 39: Analogue closed loop accelerometer
Figure 39 [13] shows an analogue closed loop accelerometer
control system. It consists of a PID, a series compensator
which ensures a type 1 characteristic of the system. The
integrator is not placed in the ideal position in the loop. The
bias voltage is fed in the feedback circuit for linear operation
of the circuit [13].
12
A. Electrostatic force
Electrostatic force between two electrode of length L and
width W and at a distance d apart in air when a potential of V
volts is applied given by [14]
𝐶𝑉 𝑉 𝜀𝑜𝐿𝑊𝑉 2
𝐹𝑒𝑠 = 𝑄𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒 × 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 = = (26)
2 𝑑 𝑑2
B. Effect of closed loop control system.
High performance accelerometers mostly operate in closed
loop. In closed loop operation, the deflection is forced to the
zero deflection by supplying a feedback voltage which
produces a feedback electrostatic force. The output signal
from the sensor is provides the position of the proof mass. At
the same time it is used to derive the feedback force on the
proof mass opposing the accelerating applied force. As a result
the proof mass only deflects the difference in the two forces.
In a closed loop accelerometer, the sensitivity is not inversely
proportional to the square of the natural resonance frequency.
The sensitivity depends on the loop gain and the compensation
in PID. The nonlinearity introduced by the spring and
damping can be reduced by keeping the proof mass close to
the zero deflection. In a close loop control system the
bandwidth can also be increased above the resonance
frequency of the sensor.
However, because of extra feedback circuitry, the electronic
circuitry is complex. It consumes more power as the proof
mass is forced to the zero deflection. The sensitivity is also
reduced as it output is the difference of the accelerating and
the electrostatic feedback force.
VI. CONCLUSION
A very high sensitive capacitive silicon accelerometer is
presented. The structure has been fabricated using DRIE
process. The device operates in open loop, however, a close
loop control system has been presented. A very high
sensitivity of 0.1 pF/G has been theoretically achieved.
However, the device is highly over-damped due to the large
are of the proof mass and lack of damping holes which
resulted in a high damping coefficient. The damping
coefficient needs to be optimized to improve the quality factor
of the accelerometer.
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