Design, fabrication and calibration of a high-G MEMS accelerometer

This paper presents a high-G MEMS accelerometer (HGMA). HGMA employs our-beams and central-island mass silicon structure, which features a robust stability in shock environment. Theoretical analysis is conducted to investigate the influence of structure parameters on the Von Mises stress distribution, mechanical sensitivity and natural frequency. With consideration of smaller stress, higher mechanical sensitivity and natural frequency, the structure parameters are optimized and the theoretical sensitivity of HGMA is calculated as 0.488μV/g. Then, the optimized structure is analyzed with finite element analysis software, which shows a maximum stress of 23.19 MPa and a frequency response of 408.19 kHz when a 100 000 g shock is loaded. Finally, a processing flow is designed and the structure is fabricated. Hopkinson bar is utilized to calibrate HGMA sample, and shows an experimental sensitivity of 0.5611μV/g. Long-term static bias and temperature experiments are arranged to evaluate HGMA. Test results verify the presented theoretical analysis, processing flow, and experiment method, which are of great value for guiding the design, fabrication and calibration of other HGMAs.