Optimising Performance of a Cantilever-type Micro Accelerometer Sensor

Abstract

A technique for optimising performance of cantilever-type micro acceleration sensor hasbeen developed. Performance of a sensor is judged mainly by its sensitivity and bandwidth.Maximising product of these two important parameters of inertial sensors helps to optimise thesensor performance. It is observed that placement of a lumped mass (add-mass) on the sensor'sproof-mass helps to control both sensitivity and the first resonant frequency of the cantileverstructure to the designer's choice. Simulation and modelling of various dimensions of rectangularstructures for acceleration sensor with this novel add-mass technique are discussed. CoventorwareMEMSCAD has been used to model, simulate, and carry out FEM analysis. A simple analyticalmodel is discussed to elaborate the mechanics of cantilever-type micro accelerometer. Thecomparison of the results obtained from analytical model and the finite element simulations revealthese to be in good agreement. The advantages of this technique for choosing the two mostimportant sensor parameters (i.e., sensitivity and bandwidth) of an inertial sensor are brought out.