CASE STUDY:

A Capacitive Accelerometer

Joel Voldman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thanks to SDS and Tim Dennison (ADI)

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 Outline
> Accelerometer fundamentals
> Analog Devices accelerometer
• History
• Structure
• Design and modeling
• Fabrication and packaging
• Noise and accuracy

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 Measurement choices
> Two approaches to measuring acceleration
• Open loop: Measure change due to acceleration
• Closed loop: A disturbance in a position control system

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 Accelerometer types
> Open vs. closed loop sensing
• Open loop: Measure change due to acceleration
• Closed loop: A disturbance in a position control system
> Quasi-static vs. resonant sensing
• Quasi-static sensing
» Mechanical resonant frequency > Frequency of
acceleration
» Measure displacement due to acceleration
Optical, Capacitive, Piezoresistive, Tunneling
• Resonant sensing
» Measure change in resonant frequency
Due to position-dependent nonlinear spring

> Today’s example involves a quasi-static accelerometer

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 Accelerometer fundamentals
> Displacement and acceleration
are coupled together by a
fundamental scaling law
• A higher resonant frequency F ma
implies less displacement x= =
» high f & low sensitivity k k
• Measuring small accelerations a
x= 2
requires floppier structures ω0
» high sensitivity and low f
> Johnson noise in the damping
4 k B T ω0
mechanism gives rise to a an ,rms =
fundamental noise floor for mQ
acceleration measurement

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 Accelerometer specifications

> Initial application arena was

automotive crash sensor

> Navigation sensors have

tighter specs

Table 1 on p. 1642 in Yazdi, N., F. Ayazi, and K. Najafi. "Micromachined Inertial

Sensors." Proceedings of the IEEE 86, no. 8 (August 1998): 1640-1659. © 1998 IEEE.

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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 6
 Piezoresistive accelerometers
> Use piezoresistors to convert stress
in suspension beam Æ change in
resistance Æ change in voltage

> First MEMS accelerometer used

piezoresistors
• Roylance and Angell, IEEE-TED
ED26:1911, 1979 Figure 1 on p. 1911 in Roylance, L. M., and J. B. Angell. "A Batch-fabricated Silicon
Accelerometer." IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 26, no. 12 (December 1979):
• Bulk micromachined 1911-1917. © 1979 IEEE.

• Glass capping wafers to damp and stop

motion

> Simple electronics

> Piezoresistors generally less
sensitive than capacitive detection Figure 2 on p. 1911 in Roylance, L. M., and J. B. Angell. "A Batch-fabricated
Silicon Accelerometer." IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 26, no. 12
(December 1979): 1911-1917. © 1979 IEEE.

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 Capacitors for position measurement

> Single capacitors

• Capacitance is
function of gap or area
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Can be nonlinear Adapted from Figure 19.3 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston,
MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 501. ISBN: 9780792372462.

Parallel plate Interdigital

> Differential
Fixed
Fixed
capacitors
• One capacitor
increases while the C1
Floating electrode
other decreases C2

Differential overlap Circuit model

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figure 19.4 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston,
MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 501. ISBN: 9780792372462.

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 Using a differential capacitor
> Differential drive creates sense signal proportional to
capacitance difference
> Gives zero output for zero change
> Output linear with gap
+Vs
0
C1 C1 − C2
V0 = −VS + ( 2VS ) = VS
C1 C1 + C2 C1 + C2
V0
C2
for parallel-plate capacitors where
0 only g changes, this becomes
-Vs
g 2 − g1
V0 = VS
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.
Adapted from Figure 19.5 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design.
g1 + g 2
Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 502. ISBN: 9780792372462.

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 Bulk-micromachined capacitive accelerometer
> Fabrication not reported, but
likely uses nested-mask
process
First mask
Second Mask
Silicon

Third Mask
A. First silicon etching Image removed due to copyright restrictions.

Second Mask

Silicon

Third Mask
B. Second silicon etching

Third Mask
Image removed due to copyright restrictions.
Silicon

C. Third silicon etching

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.
Adapted from Figure 3 on p. 688 in Sasayama, T., S. Suzuki, S. Tsuch itaii, A. Koide,
M. Suzuki, T. Nakazawa, and N. Ichikawa. "Highly Reliable Silicon Micro-machined Physical
Sensors In Mass Production." The 8th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and
Actuators and Eurosensors IX: digest of technical papers. June 25-29, 1995, Stockholm, Sweden.
Stockholm, Sweden: Foundation for Sensor and Actuator Technology, 1995, pp. 687-690. ISBN: 9789163034732.
Figure originally from Koide, A., K. Sato, S. Suzuki, and M. Miki. Technical Digest of the 11th Sensor Symposium:
June 4-5, 1992, Arcadia Ichigaya, Tokyo. Tokyo, Japan: Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan, 1992, pp. 23-26.
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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 10
 Thermal accelerometer
> MEMSIC thermal
convection
accelerometer
Image removed due to copyright restrictions.
> Gas is proof mass
> Movement of gas
under acceleration
changes thermal
Image removed due to copyright restrictions.

profile

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 Transimpedance circuits
> The simplest type of circuit measures the displacement current
in a capacitor using a transimpedance amplifier
• Transimpedance converts current to voltage
• Nulls out parasitic capacitance
> If source is DC, measure velocity of motion
RF

iC C(x)
> Velocity is not really what we want… -

Q = C ( x, t )Vc Vs
+
CP V0
-
v− ≈ v+ = 0 ⇒ Vc = Vs +

dQ dVS ∂C dx Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

iC = = C ( x, t ) + VS Adapted from Figure 19.6 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design.
dt dt ∂x VS dt Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 503. ISBN: 9780792372462.

∂C dx
∂C dx V V0 = − RFVS
iC = VS =− 0 ∂x VS dt
∂x VS dt RF
constant
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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 12
 Transimpedance circuits
CF
> If source is AC, can measure position
> First, must use frequency high
C(x) RF
enough such that velocity term is iC

negligible -
+
Vs CP V0
> Second, operate above corner -
frequency of LP filter +

dQ dV ∂C dx Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

iC = = C ( x, t ) c + Vc Adapted from Figure 19.7 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston,
dt dt ∂x Vc dt MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 504. ISBN: 9780792372462.

V0 = −ic (C F // RF ) = −ic
RF
VS = VS 0 cos(ωt ) = Re VS 0 e { jω t
} 1 + j ω C F RF
− ic RF − ic − C ( x, t ) jωVs
⎡ ∂C dx ⎤ V0 ≈ = ≈
iC = ⎢C ( x, t ) jω + ⎥VS jωC F RF jω C F jω C F
⎢⎣ ∂x Vc dt ⎥⎦
C ( x, t )
iC ≈ C ( x, t ) jωVs V0 ≈ − VS
CF
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 Non-inverting op-amp circuits
> Now there is no virtual ground and parasitic
capacitance appears in output

+Vs

C1 Vx
+ C1 − C2
C2 V0 = Vx = VS
CP V0 C1 + C2 + CP
-Vs -

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figure 19.9 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston, MA:
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 506. ISBN: 9780792372462.

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 AC Methods Require Demodulation
> For AC methods, output signal is a HF sinusoid C ( x, t )
V0 ≈ − VS (t )
(carrier) multiplied by a LF signal CF
> This is an amplitude-modulated (AM) signal
> We want to retrieve the low-frequency component
Voltage

0
V0

Time
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figure 19.11 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 508. ISBN: 9780792372462.

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 Synchronous Demodulation
> Use a nonlinear circuit to multiply V0 by an in-phase sinusoid
> This demodulates to baseband
> Relative phase is important
Differential capacitor
Vs0 cos(ωt) Low-pass filter

A LPF Output
V0 Vd
Vout
Signal
source
~ -1
Synchronous
Inverter Amplifier
demodulator

C ( x, t ) Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

V0 ≈ − VS Adapted from Figure 19.13 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 2001, p. 509. ISBN: 9780792372462.
CF
C ( x, t ) C ( x, t ) 2
V0 ≈ − VS 0 cos(ωt ) Vd = − Vs 0 [cos(θ ) + cos(2ωt + θ )]
CF 2C F
Vd = V0 ⋅ Vs = V0 ⋅ Vs 0 cos(ωt + θ ) Vout =−
C ( x, t ) 2
Vs 0 cos(θ )
2C F
Allow phase shift

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 Signal-to-noise Issues
> To get a big signal, use a big voltage C ( x, t )
V0 ≈ − VS (t )
— BUT — CF

Voltage creates a force that can modify the state of

the mechanical system (analogous to the self-heating
problem in resistance measurement)

> Noise floor minimum often set by LPF bandwidth

> But amplifier noise will often dominate

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 Analog Devices accelerometer
> Genesis: An ADI engineer heard about forming
mechanical sensors on silicon

> Market pull was airbag accelerometers (50g)

• Current product was $50
• Auto manufacturers wanted $5 price point
> Team was formed in 1986, first product in 1993
• Fabrication process was under development since early 80’s
at Berkeley

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 Analog Devices accelerometer
> Initially partitioned system to integrate electronics on-
chip
• This ensured that they could achieve good SNR
> BUT
• Entailed large infrastructure costs that essentially hemmed
future opportunities

> This is an example where up-front system partitioning

has multi-decade consequences

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 ADI system partitioning
> How to integrate MEMS + circuits?
> Circuits typically are run on continually changing
(and improving) fabrication lines

> MEMS typically cannot economically support such

high throughputs

> Foundries will not accept non-pristine wafers

> Thus, must combine both in-house in a dedicated
foundry
• This usually sets circuit technology
• For ADI, foundry is in Cambridge and Limerick
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 ADI system partitioning
> How to integrate MEMS + circuits?
> Several different approaches
• MEMS first
• Circuits first
• MEMS in the middle
> ADI chose MEMS-in-the-middle
• Mostly developed at Berkeley
• 6” fab line
• ~1 million sensors/week (as of 2005)

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 Analog Devices ADXL50

Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission.

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 Differential capacitor structure

Anchor
Folded spring

Position sense region

Shuttle motion (proof mass)

(42 cells)

Fixed electrodes

Self-test region
(12 cells)

Anchor

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figure 19.17 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 514. ISBN: 9780792372462.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 Closer views

Image removed due to copyright restrictions. Figure 19.18 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem
Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 514. ISBN: 9780792372462.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 24
 Even closer

Image removed due to copyright restrictions. Figure 19.19 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem
Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 515. ISBN: 9780792372462.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 25
 Fabrication sequence
Sensor poly
LPCVD
Sacrifical oxide
BPSG Nitride LPCVD
Gate oxide
Nitride
Ox BPSG
n+ runner n+ Ox n+ runner n+
p Ground plane
p p- substrate p- substrate p
p

Circuit area Sensor area

Circuit area Sensor area

PECVD Nitride
Metallization
PECVD Oxide
BPSG
Ox n+ runner n+
p
p p- substrate

Circuit area Sensor area

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figures 19.23, 19.24, and 19.26 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers,
2001, pp. 521 and 523. ISBN: 9780792372462.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 Packaging
> When to do die saw, before or after release?
> ADI decided to do die separation after release and
invented a wafer-handling method to protect the
released region during sawing
• One tape layer with holes corresponding to mechanical
region
• A second tape layer covering the entire chip
• Saw from the back (must have pre-positioned alignment
marks on wafer back to do this)

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 Packaging
> Processing issues
• Stiction at- and post-release
» Solved at-release stiction with bumps under poly
structures
» Post-release stiction avoided with proprietary coating
Thermally evaporated silicone coating
Has to withstand packaging temps

> Laser trimming

• Set offsets, slopes, etc.
• At wafer scale
• Before packaging…

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 System diagram
> Oscillator provides AC waveform for sensing
> Waveforms:

V+

Vsense

V-

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figure 19.21 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 516. ISBN: 9780792372462.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 Stiffness of springs
ε 0 HL0 ⎡ y⎤
C sense ≈ 42 ≈ 60fF⎢1 ± ⎥
> Parallel-plate approximation to g0 ± y ⎣ g0 ⎦
sense capacitance is off by
L1
about 50% Folded

> Beam bending model gives L2 Motion

good estimate of stiffness
Unfolded

L1 L2 L2 L1
π ⎡ 4
EWH ⎤ 3
k≅2 ⎢ 3⎥
≅ 5.6 N/m
6 ⎢⎣ ( 2 L1 ) + ( 2 L2 ) ⎥⎦
3

Almost rigid
ω 0 = 24.7 kHz Motion

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

Adapted from Figure 19.22 in Senturia, Stephen D. Microsystem Design. Boston,
MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p. 518. ISBN: 9780792372462.

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 Design and modeling
> Q of mechanical resonance is 5
• Extremely hard to model stationary finger
accurately
• Squeezed film damping between
fingers
• Couette drag beneath proof mass
• Complex actual geometry
• Rough model gives Q =34, a poor proof mass
estimate
fluid

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 ADXL50
> First accelerometer used feedback control to keep
plates fixed

> Let’s use PD control to see what it affects K ( s ) = K 0 (1 + γs )

> Input is disturbance D(s) – acceleration

> Output is force from controller F(s)
> H(s) is accelerometer: SMD
K0
F (s) HK (1 + γ s ) −
=− = m
D( s) 1 + HK ⎛b K ⎞ k + K0
s2 + ⎜ + γ 0 ⎟ s +
⎝m m⎠ m

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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 32
 ADXL50
> Use feedback to get both K0
(1 + γs )
−
F (s) m
• Critical damping (when ON) =
D( s) ⎛b K ⎞ k + K0
• Insensitivity to material s 2 + ⎜ + γ 0 ⎟s +
properties ⎝m m⎠ m
2
> Choose K0>>k ⎛b K0 ⎞ ⎛ k + K0 ⎞
⎜ + γ ⎟ = 4 ⎜ ⎟
• ADI chose 10x ⎝ m m ⎠ ⎝ m ⎠
⎛b K0 ⎞ K0
> Critical damping is when ⎜ + γ ⎟ ≈ 2
b2=4ac (Qclosed-loop=1/2) ⎝m m⎠ m
⎛ ω0 K0 ⎞ K0
• Can pick K0 and γ to meet ⎜ + γ ⎟ ≈ 2
both requirements ⎝ o.l .
Q m ⎠ m

> Sensor response will be K0 K0 1 k K0

γ ≈2 − ≈2
insensitive to changes in k m m Qo.l . m m
m
γ ≈2
K0
Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 The next generations
> In the next generation, ADI abandoned feedback
> Why?
• After years of testing, ADI found that polySi was structurally
stable for intended markets
• Feedback required extra electronics Î bigger chip Î $$
• Needed external capacitor to set LPF
» Extra cost, extra complexity
• Closed-loop design was not ratiometric to power supply
» Customers needed to measure supply voltage
• DC bias at fingers for force feedback caused charges to
move and thus devices to drift

> Therefore, they removed feedback

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 Analog Devices Dies shots

Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 35
 Next generation specifications
> Text study is of ADXL150 (XL76)
> Text lists 22 specifications, covering sensitivity, range,
temperature range, supply voltage, nonlinearity, cross-axis
response, bandwidth, clock noise, drop test, shock survival, etc
etc.
> Also, response is ratiometric, proportional to the supply voltage
> Sensitivity is βVs = 38 mV/g

VS
Vout = ± α + aβVS Image removed due to copyright restrictions.

2
offset

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 Noise and accuracy
> Noise is specified as 1 mg/Hz½ in a bandwidth from 10 Hz to 1000
Hz

> Corresponding Brownian noise estimate is half that value,

corresponding to a rms position noise of 0.013 nm

> Offset errors

• If device is not perfectly balanced at zero g, turning on voltage
aggravates the offset
• Accurate etching required special “dummy” features to ensure that
all cuts had the same profile (we have seen similar effects when we
looked at DRIE)

> Cross-axis sensitivity is low because of squeeze-film damping

and differential capacitor measurement

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 ADXL202 2-axis accelerometer

> Then moved from two 1-axis sensors to one 2-axis

Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission.

Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission. Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 38
 Newer designs

> ADXL203 two-axis accelerometer

> Supports are in center of die to cancel 1st-order
stresses due to packaging

Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission. Courtesy of Analog Devices, Inc. Used with permission.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].
JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 39
 The latest design: ADXL40
> The newest designs use an SOI-MEMS process
• Also developed at Berkeley
> Enables several circuit features
• 0.6 μm CMOS allows 10x more transistors in same size
• Allows poly fuse trims to be set on-chip
» Can trim AFTER packaging

Figure 1 on p. 637 in Brosnihan, T. J., J. M. Bustillo, A. P. Pisano, and R. T. Howe. "Embedded Interconnect and Electrical Isolation for High-aspect-ratio,
SOI Inertial Instruments.“ In Transducers '97 Chicago: 1997 International Conference on Solid State Sensors and Actuators: digest of technical papers, June
16-19, 1997. Vol. 1. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE, 1997, pp. 637-640. ISBN: 9780780338296. © 1997 IEEE.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
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 The latest design: ADXL40
> MEMS
• Higher-aspect ratio structures lead to more squeezed-film
damping Î Q=1
• Trench isolation allows self-test to be electrically isolated
from sensing fingers
» Allows 2x voltage applied Î 4x force

Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.

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 ADXL40

> Die shots

Image removed due to copyright restrictions. Image removed due to copyright restrictions.

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 New accelerometer markets

Image removed due to Image removed due to

copyright restrictions. copyright restrictions.

Image removed due to Image removed due to Image removed due to

copyright restrictions. copyright restrictions. copyright restrictions.

Image removed due to Image removed due to

copyright restrictions. copyright restrictions.

Cite as: Joel Voldman, course materials for 6.777J / 2.372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. MIT
OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].
JV: 2.372J/6.777J Spring 2007, Lecture 24 - 43
 Summary
> Accelerometers are a MEMS success story
> Early system partitioning decisions have had
profound downstream effects
• Eases sensor design and sensing
• Requires large internal infrastructure
» And can never go to TSMC…

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