A Novel Fabrication Method for a Capacitive MEMS Accelerometer Based on Glass-Silicon Composite Wafers

In this paper, we report a novel teeter-totter type accelerometer based on glass-silicon composite wafers. Unlike the ordinary micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers, the entire structure of the accelerometer, includes the mass, the springs, and the composite wafer. The composite wafer is expected to serve as the electrical feedthrough and the fixed capacitance plate at the same time, to simplify the fabrication process, and to save on chip area. It is manufactured by filling melted borosilicate glass into an etched silicon wafer and polishing the wafer flat. A sensitivity of 51.622 mV/g in the range of +/- 5 g (g = 9.8 m/s(2)), a zero-bias stability under 0.2 mg, and the noise floor with 11.28 mu g/root Hz were obtained, which meet the needs of most acceleration detecting applications. The micromachining solution is beneficial for vertical interconnection and miniaturization of MEMS devices.

Automated summary

A novel teeter-totter type accelerometer based on glass-silicon composite wafers is reported in this paper, with the unique structure simplifying the fabrication process and saving chip area. The accelerometer, manufactured through micromachining, exhibits good sensitivity and stability, meeting the needs of most acceleration detecting applications.