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Mems Capacitive Accelerometer: (Design and Fabrication)

The document discusses the design and fabrication of MEMS capacitive accelerometers. It begins with an introduction to MEMS and accelerometers, explaining that MEMS integrate mechanical and electrical components on a single substrate to sense and transduce mass, while accelerometers specifically measure acceleration. It then describes the basic operation and capacitive sensing mechanism of capacitive accelerometers, which detect acceleration as a change in capacitance between comb fingers. The document outlines the fabrication process for capacitive accelerometers using silicon-on-insulator wafers and photolithography, as well as their applications in automotive, consumer electronics, industrial, and aerospace systems.

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Sarmast Bilawal Khuhro
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156 views16 pages

Mems Capacitive Accelerometer: (Design and Fabrication)

The document discusses the design and fabrication of MEMS capacitive accelerometers. It begins with an introduction to MEMS and accelerometers, explaining that MEMS integrate mechanical and electrical components on a single substrate to sense and transduce mass, while accelerometers specifically measure acceleration. It then describes the basic operation and capacitive sensing mechanism of capacitive accelerometers, which detect acceleration as a change in capacitance between comb fingers. The document outlines the fabrication process for capacitive accelerometers using silicon-on-insulator wafers and photolithography, as well as their applications in automotive, consumer electronics, industrial, and aerospace systems.

Uploaded by

Sarmast Bilawal Khuhro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MEMS CAPACITIVE

ACCELEROMETER
(Design and Fabrication)

Presented by:-
PRASHANT SINGH
OUTLINE
 Introduction
 MEMS
 MEMS vs. IC’s
 Accelerometer
 Basic operation principle
 Capacitive Accelerometer
 Capacitance basics
 Sensing mechanism
 Structure analysis (spring stiffness)
 Advantages
 Accelerometer fabrication
 Applications
INTRODUCTION
 MEMS
 Micro-Electro-mechanical-system
 Integration of mechanical unit, electrical unit, sensor and
actuator on a single substrate.
 MEMS:
 MEMS move and Sense Mass.
 MEMS act as transducer (Sensor & Actuator).
 IC
 IC’s move & sense electrons.
 IC’s acts as sensor not actuator.
 MEMS Advantage
 Smaller
 Lighter
 Economical
ACCELEROMETER
 Inertial sensor:
 Newton’s 1st law (Mass of inertia).
 Device used to measure:
 Acceleration
 Displacement
 Force
 Inclination
 Design Approach:
 Piezoelectric
 Piezoresistive
 Tunneling
 Capacitive, etc.

Basic capacitive Accelerometer.


BASIC OPERATION PRINCIPLE

CAPACITIVE ACCELEROMETER
 Based on Change in capacitance between Comb
fingers.
 {Capacitance change} α {Force applied on Proof
Mass}
 Comb structure Large capacitance value
 Advantages
 High resolution
 Good DC response
 Linear output
 low power dissipation
 Easy incorporation with CMOS
CAPACITANCE BASICS

SENSING MECHANISM (a)
 Two types:
 Out-of-Plane Sensing
 Change in overlapping width (w).
 In-Plane sensing
 Lateral sensing (a)
 Change in overlapping length (L)
(b)
 Transverse sensing (b)
 Change in finger gap (d)
STRUCTURE ANALYSIS

Unguided and guided beam structure


CAPACITIVE ACCELEROMETER ADVANTAGES

 High sensitivity.
 Easy readout circuitry.

 Independent of temperature variation.

 Easy fabrication (two level mask).

 Large noise margin.

 Fabrication on silicon.

 Compatible with CMOS technology.


FABRICATION PROCESS
 Silicon on insulator(SOI) wafer(i)
15µm silicon
 Cleaning -RCA 1 2µm oxide
-RCA 2
(i)
475 silicon
µm
 Oxidation(ii)
oxide
 thickness of oxide layer ::7700 Å at 1050ºC silicon
oxide
(ii)
silicon
 Photolithography(iii)
-1st level mask oxide

-prebaking photoresist

-UV light exposer-15 sec Silicon


oxide
-PR develop (iii)
silicon

oxide
FABRICATION PROCESS CONTD..
 SiO2 etch (iv) oxide
Silicon
oxide
–buffer HF
(iv
silicon
-etch rate ≈ 1000Å/min.
oxide
 Silicon etch(v)
-PR removal
-Anisotropic Si etch
-THAH solution used
oxide
-V groove formation (v
silicon

oxide
FABRICATION PROCESS CONTD..
 SiO2 removal (vi)
-Buffer HF oxide

-hanging structure silicon (vi

 Metallization (vii)
-2nd level mask
-Al deposited
-temp. 650ºC oxide

silicon (vi
ACCELEROMETER FABRICATION CONTD..
 Accelerometer (1st level mask, PR developed)

photoresist

 Accelerometer (SiO2 etched)


SiO2
Si

Si
SiO2
APPLICATIONS
 Automotive
 Crash detection & Air bag deployment.
 Consumer Electronics
 hard disk protection(laptops)
 screen rotation (mobile)
 Image stabilization (camera)
 Industrial
 Vibration detection (machine)
 crack detection (pulley)
 Aerospace & Defence
 Navigation
 Missile guidance
 Thrust detection
Accelerometer application
THANK YOU

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