Novel Capacitive Accelerometers with Beams based on Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifiers

Novedosos Acelerómetros Capacitivos con Brazos Basados en Amplificadores Flexibles de

Manivela Deslizante

Pedro Vargas-Chable1, Margarita Tecpoyotl-Torres*,1, Ramon Cabello-Ruiz2,

Alfonso Aldair Colin-Antunez2, Rafael Vargas-Bernal3
1
Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas-Centro de Investigación en Ingeniería y
Ciencias Aplicadas, (IICBA-CIICAp) de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos
(UAEM), 62209, Av. Universidad No. 1001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Mor., México.
2
Universidad Tecnológica Emiliano Zapata del Estado de Morelos (UTEZ)
Av. Universidad Tecnológica No. 1. Col. Palo Escrito. C.P. 62760. Emiliano Zapata, Morelos.
3
Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Irapuato (ITESI). Carretera Irapuato - Silao km 12.5
Colonia El Copal. Irapuato, Guanajuato, México
{tecpoyotl}@uaem.mx

Abstract. Accelerometers measure the accelerations or vibrations experienced by objects due to

inertial forces or mechanical excitations. The Microelectromechanical (MEM) Accelerometers have
various applications, among others, in the industries, aeronautics, automotive, oil, construction,
manufacturing of computer equipment and consumer electronics. These devices employ different
techniques for their operation. The interest in this work focuses on capacitive accelerometers,
seeking to improve their displacement sensitivity. In order to improve this parameter, it has
generally been used: proof mass reduction, modification of the suspension beams, or, alternatively,
by adding displacement amplifiers. In this work, after analyzing several configurations, two designs
of modified beams based on Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifiers are proposed. The improvement in
displacement sensitivity, compared with that obtained with uniform beams, is in one case of
72.435% and in the other, of 125%. Simulations were performed with ANSYS.
Keywords: MEMS, acceleration, ANSYS, performance parameters, simulation.
Resumen. Los acelerómetros son sensores que miden las aceleraciones o vibraciones, que
experimentan los objetos debido a fuerzas inerciales o excitaciones mecánicas. Los acelerómetros
Microelectromecánicos (MEM) tienen diversas aplicaciones en las industrias, aeronáutica,
automotriz, petrolera, construcción, manufacturera de equipos de cómputo y electrónica de
consumo, entre otras. Estos dispositivos emplean diferentes técnicas para su funcionamiento. El
interés en este trabajo, se enfoca en los acelerómetros capacitivos, buscando mejorar su sensibilidad
de desplazamiento. Para mejorar este parámetro se ha recurrido generalmente, a la reducción de
masa, a la modificación de los brazos de suspensión, o bien, agregando amplificadores de
desplazamiento. En este trabajo, después de analizar varias configuraciones, se proponen dos
diseños de brazos modificados basados en amplificadores flexibles de manivela deslizante. La
mejora en la sensibilidad de desplazamiento, comparada con la obtenida con brazos uniformes, es
en uno de los casos, de 72.435% y en el otro de 125%. Los resultados fueron obtenidos usando
ANSYS.
Palabras clave: MEMS, aceleración, ANSYS, parámetros de operación, simulación.

1. Problem description
MEM technology was born from the technology of integrated circuits, which involves small
systems with mechanical devices and electrical components [1], working in haemony to achieve the
perception and control of the local environment [2]. Among these devices are found sensors,
actuators, radiofrequency devices, Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical devices (MOEMs), microfluidic
devices and BioMEMS.
The interest in this paper focuses on a particular type of sensors, called accelerometers, which
measure the acceleration or force applied to the devices. Accelerometers can be used to detect the
change of position, vibration and impact. They can be of single-axis or multi-axis, the last ones,
have the ability to detect accelerations in any direction. Capacitive accelerometers, compared to the
other types of MEM accelerometers, have high sensitivity, low power consumption, low noise level,
stable direct current (DC) characteristics and lower temperature dependence [3].
Accelerometers to determine the inclination, for vibration and shock, and for seismic and
inertial applications are commercialized. Depending on their design, they can be integrated, for
example, in seismic recording systems [4], or in automobiles, in airbag activation systems. These
devices are also part of smart phones, intelligent sensors and low cost integrated monitoring system
[5].
Displacement sensitivity, electrostatic force, operation frequency and quality factor are some of
their parameters [6, 2]. In order to improve the displacement sensitivity, several approaches have
been implemented, such as the mass reduction or the shape modification of suspension beams, and
even, adding complex devices, known as displacement amplifiers [7].
This paper focuses on capacitive accelerometers, where the variable that controls its movement
corresponds to the value of g to which it is subjected. To improve its displacement sensitivity, the
designs of modified beams based on Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifiers are proposed. These
simple amplifiers are made with a distributed mass arrangement, under certain angles. The content
of this work is organized as follows. In section 2, the basic concepts of accelerometers and their
operation are presented. Section 3 shows the designs of the implemented suspension beams, as well
as the results obtained in the corresponding simulations. Finally, in section 4, some concluding
remarks are given.
2. Introduction
2.1. Some basic concepts of accelerometers
All capacitive sensors for detection of mechanical quantities depend on displacement
measurements. The movement of a suspended electrode with respect to a fixed electrode establishes
a changing capacitance value between the electrodes. If the mechanical quantity controls the mobile
electrode, a sensor is made [8], whose capacitance value is obtained from [9]:
A
C=ε 0 ε r (1)
d
where ε0 is the permittivity of the free space (vacuum), of magnitude 8.85 (pf/m), ε is the relative
permittivity or dielectric constant of the insulating material, A (m²) is the overlap area of the plates,
referred as effective area, and d (m) corresponds to their separation. In such a way that, any
phenomenon that changes the area, the dielectric constant or the separation of the capacitor plates,
will cause a change in the value of capacitance C.
Capacitive sensors must be as large as possible, the value of its capacitance is directly related to its
size and, a small capacitor means a high susceptibility to noise. Capacitive sensor reveals clear
advantages compared to the piezoresistive one: high sensitivity, low energy consumption, better
temperature performance, etc. Basically, capacitive silicon sensors measure the displacement of the
membrane. They have an extremely high sensitivity and low energy consumption. These
characteristics make them especially attractive in biomedical implant devices, or in other telemetry
applications. A micro mechanized accelerometer based on the capacitive detection of area variation
was developed in [10].
The acceleration is measured by the displacement of the proof or seismic mass. Its unit is g (one
g equals 9.81 m/s2). For capacitive sensing type, the displacement is detected by measuring the
change in capacitance between the seismic mass and the adjacent fixed electrodes. Accelerometers
typically consist of four components: a moving mass, called proof or seismic mass; a suspension
formed by one or more elastic supports and springs; a shock absorber; and a mechanism by which
the displacement of the moving mass is recorded.
The mass is used to generate a force due to the acceleration or deceleration of the body on which
the accelerometer is mounted. The suspension subjects to the moving mass and fulfills functions of
rigid support (for example, to prevent the movement of the mass in the directions y and z) and of
spring (making that the mass returns to its original position in the x direction, once the acceleration
disappears). The damper is generally the volume of air, or controlled environment, captured within
the enclosure or cavity that surrounds the device. It is designed to control the behavior of the
moving mass in order to obtain favorable characteristics in the frequency response. The
displacement of the mass is transformed into an electrical output signal thanks to the registration
mechanism. These characteristics make them represented as damping, mass-spring systems. Linear
accelerometers are classified as planar (they register on the x or y axis) and out of plane (they
register on the z axis). The choice of registration axes is mainly determined by the characteristics of
the application. Currently, there are prototypes of accelerometers with registration capacity in the
three Cartesian axes within the same encapsulation.
About the shape of the beams, different modifications have been implemented, in order to
increase the displacement sensitivity [3]. This fact is based on the movement of the proof mass is
determined by the beams that connect this mass to the fixed anchors and dampen the system.
2.2. Parameters and material properties
When an external acceleration is applied, the proof mass tends to move in the opposite direction
to the direction of this acceleration, according to Newton's second Law. Equation 2 expresses the
relationship between force F, acceleration a, and mass m.
F=m a (2)

From this equation, it is easy to understand that the acceleration of a body can be determined by
measuring the force acting on that body. A body on the surface of the earth experiences an
acceleration of 9.81 m/s2 or 1 g, if it is left in free fall. Force and acceleration, as vector quantities,
have the same direction and sense.
Accelerometers are devices that determine the necessary force to create a change of speed,
maintaining the mass constant and accelerating the body or structure on which they are mounted.
The spring, that connects the mass with the structure, is the means of mechanical transmission of
acceleration; which, since it is not a rigid body, is affected by the inertia of the mass (it opposes
movement) and changes its length. The spring elongates or contracts as a consequence of the
direction of acceleration (since the movement of the mass is restricted to the rectilinear type). This
deformation measured in units of length is proportional to the force that causes it. The relationship
between the displacement of the spring and the force acting directly or indirectly on it is:
F=k x (3)

where k is a scalar constant of proportionality between force and displacement and is known as the
spring constant. It is obtained by Equation 4, in the case of a uniform guided beam, in which one
end is fixed and the other is joined to the proof mass as the guided termination [3].
3 3
k =12 EI /t =Et (wb /l b ) (4)

where E is the Young's modulus of the material, t, wb y lb are the thickness, width and length of the
3
tw b
suspension beams, respectively. I is the moment of inertia, which is calculated from: I = .
12
The displacement sensitivity is defined as the displacement of the moving mass per unit of
gravity g along the direction of sensing. This parameter can be calculated by equation 5, based on
Hooke's Law:
m g ρV g
S x= = (5)
k k
where, m is the system mass, ρ is the density, V is the volume and g is the gravity acceleration.
Operation frequency in the plane is another of the merit figures and is obtained from [11]:

√ √
3
1 Nk 1 NEtw b
f= = 3
(6)
2π m 2π mlb
The accelerometers will be implemented in Silicon. Its properties are presented in Table 1.

Parameters and units Silicon [12-14]

Density, ρ, [kg/m3] 2329
Young's modulus, E, [GPa] 130.1
Coefficient of thermal expansion, α, [1/K] 2.568 e-6
Poisson ratio, , [Dimensionless] 0.33
Tensile yield strength, [MPa] 250
Table 1. Silicon properties.
3. Suspension beams design
In this work, 3 designs are considered:
  Design A: Clamped-clamped flexure or anchored uniform beams [3].
 Design B: Beams based on Modified Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifier.
 Design C: Beams based on Modified Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifier flexure,
with boss.
Design A is very common in the literature, in this case, it is considered as a reference for
comparison.
Design B and C are novel proposals. The implementation of this type of geometry in
accelerometers was not found. Description of Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifier was found in [15],
for amplification of the input force, as it is shown in Figure 1. The ratio between the input and
output forces, with equal crank and the coupler lengths is:
Output Force 1
= (7)
Inout Force tan α
As α approaches to 0, its tangent tends to ∞, which causes a small applied input force to cause a
large output force. The rigid bodies (coupling masses) are carried to ground and to another rigid
body by means of elastic joints that connect both rigid bodies.

Fig. 1. Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifier [15].

Based on this amplifier, the beams of the accelerometer shown in Figure 2 were designed. The
dimensions of accelerometer elements are presented in Table 2. The thickness of the beams and
proof mass is 0.025 mm.

(a)
 (b)
Fig. 2. (a) Accelerometer with beams based on Compliant Crank-Slider Amplifiers and (b) One of
the left beams.

Element Value [mm] Element Value [mm]

Mass Length, ML 7 Beam Width BW 0.010
Mass Width, MW 7 Beam Length, BL 0.160
Anchor length, AL 0.500 Coupling Element Length, CEL 0.660
Anchor width, AW 0.500 Coupling Element Width, CEW 0.025
Angle, θ 178°
Table 2. Accelerometer elements and their dimensions.
For design C, a boss element was implemented in the central part of the beam, according to
[16]. In this reference, the inclusion of a boss in each beam of a chevron structure produces a
reduction of rigidity of 35.5%, compared to uniform beams case, when the width of bosses were 40
times the beam width. An increment in operation frequency and in the displacement of the arrow
was also obtained.
In Table 3, beams geometries and displacement sensitivity of accelerometers A-C, when 1g is
applied, are given. Parameters values are provided in Table 4.

Design Beam geometry Displacement sensitivity

B
 C

Table 3. Beams geometries and displacement sensitivity of accelerometers A-C.

The proof mass in all cases is of 2,853 mg. The results of simulations are shown in Table 4.
Design Design Inc. Decr. Design Inc. Decr.
Parameter
A B % % C % %
Stiffness [N/m] 25.054 11.077 - 55.787 14.504 - 42.109
Total Mass, [m𝑔] 2.867 2.865 - 0.070 2.865 - 0.070
Operation
470.48 312.94 - 33.485 358.1 - 23.886
frequency, Hz
Displacement
1.121 2.528 125.513 - 1.933 72.435 -
sensitivity, [µm/g]
Normal stress
2.681 11.8 340.134 95.599 9.794 265.311 -
[MPa]
Table 4. Simulation results. % of increment (Inc. %) and decrement (Decr. %) are calculated
considering as reference the values of Design A.
From Table 4, it can be seen that the rigidity of Design B is lower (11.077%) than that of the
conventional accelerometer (Design A). The highest displacement sensitivity value was obtained
with the same accelerometer (125%), although the decrease in frequency has a high value
(33.485%).
On the other hand, with respect to Design C, there is a lower improvement in displacement
sensitivity, but also considerable (125.513%). It also present a lower reduction in operating
frequency (23.886%).

(a) (b)
Fig. 3. a) Comparison of displacement sensitivity and b) operation frequency.
Table 5 shows the location of normal stress in the accelerometers A-C, and in the
corresponding beams. As it can be seen, in all analyzed cases, location of maximum values of
normal stress are in one side of the right beams, for Design A, closed to anchor, and for Designs B
and C, closed to proof mass, on the same side. The bigger value correspond to Design C, but it is
considerable lower than the tensile yield strength, which is convenient to guarantee the device
integrity.

Location of Normal Stress in the Zoom in location of Normal Stress in

Design
accelerometer structure the corresponding beam

Table 5. Location of normal stress (a) in the accelerometers A-C, and (b) in the corresponding
beams.
Conclusions
The implementation of beams with the chosen shapes allows to obtain improvements in the
displacement sensitivity, compared with the accelerometer of uniform beams, achieving the
objective of this work. Beams of Designs B and C have geometries of masses distributed in a non-
uniform fashion.
The highest displacement sensitivity value corresponds to Design B, providing an
improvement of 125.513%, with respect to the conventional uniform beams accelerometer when 1g
is applied. Its frequency, however, is reduced by 33.485%, according to the relationships
established in equations 5 and 6 that involve the mass value under a direct and inverse
proportionality, respectively. In future work, a compliant displacement amplifier will be added in
order to increase both parameters simultaneously.
 On the other hand, the results obtained with Design C, improvements in the displacement
sensitivity (72.435%) and a lower decrease in operation frequency (23.886%), with respect to the
uniform beams accelerometer. Addition of a compliant displacement amplifier is also suggested.
In all analyzed cases, location of maximum values of normal stress are in the same side of the
right beams of these accelerometers. For Design A, location is closed to anchor and, for Designs B
and C, closed to proof mass. The bigger value correspond to Design C, but it is considerable lower
than the tensile yield strength, which is necessary for the structure integrity.

Acknowledgements
Pedro Vargas-Chable is grateful for the support of CONACYT, for his doctoral studies
scholarship, under grant 484392/273928. M. Tecpoyotl-Torres also thanks to CONACyT for its
support, through the National System of Researchers, SNI, with reference 20650.
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