Influence of the Flexure Position and a Thick Gold Film on the Performance of Beam-Mass Structures

Abstract

In the present work, we realize a miniaturized piezoresistive accelerometer with high magnitude of prime-axis signal and a very low cross-axis signal. Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the electro-mechanical response of three structures with different flexure positions and an electroplated gold layer. Of the three structural configurations, one structure with the proof mass-edge-aligned-beams and an electroplated gold film has better performance with lesser real estate consumption. Experimental results show that a fabricated sensor depicts around 20% improvement in the prime-axis signal and a maximum reduction of 7.6% in the cross-axis signal compared to other structures.

Keywords:

• Cross-axis signal
• Electroplated gold
• Flexure position
• MEMS accelerometer
• Piezoresistance
• Prime-axis signal

Acknowledgements

The experimental work reported in the manuscript was carried at the Microelectronics Laboratory, Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. Vetrivel

S Vetrivel received BE degree in electronics and communication engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India in 2013, with first class distinction. Subsequently, he received MS (by Research) degree from School of Electronics Engineering (SENSE), Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai Campus, India in 2017. Now, he pursuing a PhD as a full-time scholar in IIT Madras, India. His research interest includes MEMS/NEMS piezoresistive sensors, carbon nanomaterials based flexible sensors. Email: [email protected].

B. Anupama Menon

B Anupama received BTech degree in electronics and communication engineering from the University of Calicut, Kerala in 2007 with first class. During the time of graduation itself, she was campus selected in Infosys. After working there for 1 year, she joined in Karunya University, Coimbatore for ME program in VLSI design from the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering in 2008. Soon after completing the post-graduation program in 2010, she joined as assistant professor in the Department of ECE in MES College of Engineering, Kuttippuram. Her research interests include MEMS and VLSI Design. Email: [email protected]

Ribu Mathew

Ribu Mathew received BTech degree in electronics and communication engineering from NSS college of Engineering, Calicut University, India in 2009, and MTech degree in VLSI design from Karunya University, India in 2012. In the year 2018, he completed his PhD in VIT University Chennai India in the field of MEMS sensors. His current research interest includes MEMS-based piezoresistive micro/nano-cantilever sensors for chemical and biological sensing applications, MEMS interfacing circuits, analog and RF circuit design, and bio-MEMS. Email: [email protected].

A. Ravi Sankar

A Ravi Sankar received the BE degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Madras, India in 1999, with first class. He got admission to a postgraduate program through GATE-2001 exam and has obtained the ME degree in VLSI design from the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Bharathiar University in 2003. From June 2003 to December 2003, he worked for RMK Engineering College, Chennai as a lecturer. Subsequently, he joined the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, IIT Kharagpur as a full-time institute research scholar and obtained the PhD degree in 2009. From February 2008 to June 2009 he was working for Advanced Technology Development Centre, IIT, Kharagpur, as a project scholar and involved in design, fabrication, and testing of MEMS sensors. From 2009 to 2011, he was working as an associate professor in the Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Karunya University, Coimbatore. From, June 2011, he is working as a professor in the School of Electronics Engineering (SENSE), Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai Campus. His research interests include MEMS and microsystems, silicon and glass micromachining and VLSI design.