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A High-Resolution and Large-Bandwidth Resonant Accelerometer with Thermal Boost Sensitivity
- Citation Author(s):
- Submitted by:
- Li Chengxin
- Last updated:
- Mon, 01/13/2025 - 16:55
- DOI:
- 10.21227/kgfy-ms87
- License:
20 Views- Categories:
- Keywords:
Abstract
Capacitive actuation and piezoresistive detection (CAPD) mechanisms have been explored to enhance the bandwidth of resonant accelerometers, leveraging their high transduction gain to amplify weak signals. Despite these advantages, the stiffness of beams for the piezoresistive gauges poses a challenge to achieving high sensitivity and resolution. To address this limitation, this paper presents a high-resolution resonant accelerometer with enhanced scale factor using a thermal boost approach to increase sensitivity. The accelerometer features a CAPD resonator consisting of a dual clamped-clamped beam with two symmetrically arranged piezoresistive gauges. By applying a DC thermal voltage across these piezoresistive gauges, denoted as G1 and G2, a thermal perturbation stiffness arises due to the resistance difference between the two gauges. This stiffness alters the coupling between the in-phase and out-of-phase modes of the resonator, enabling enhancements to the scale factor of the resonant accelerometer. Experimental results show that this approach significantly decreases the noise spectral density from 2.4 µg/√Hz to 0.9 µg/√Hz, while maintaining a high bandwidth of ~1000 Hz. This advancement highlights the effectiveness of thermal perturbation in boosting the scale factor, achieving a bandwidth-to-noise floor ratio of 1111, the highest reported to date.
Dear Editor,
We are pleased to enclose a manuscript entitled “A High-Resolution and Large-Bandwidth Resonant Accelerometer with Thermal Boost Sensitivity” to be considered for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control. This manuscript builds upon a conference paper presented at the 2024 International Frequency Control Symposium [1].
This work presents a novel resonant accelerometer that combines capacitive actuation with piezoresistive detection and incorporates an N-type piezoresistive gauge with dimensions of 10 µm × 0.6 µm. To decrease the noise floor of the resonant accelerometer, a thermal boost approach was employed, enabling precise tuning of the scale factor of the resonant accelerometer. Experimental results show that the approach significantly reduces the noise spectral density from 2.4 µg/√Hz to 0.9 µg/√Hz, while maintaining a high bandwidth of ~1000 Hz. These advancements result in the highest bandwidth-to-noise floor ratio reported for resonant accelerometers to date.
Compared to the conference paper, this manuscript includes substantial new content and detailed discussions, specifically:
1. In Section II. THEORETICAL MODEL
· A dynamic model predicting the sensitivity enhancement achieved by the thermal boost approach, which aligns closely with experimental results.
2. In Section III. EXPERIMENT RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
· A comparative experiment was presented to verify the theoretical analysis and evaluate the improvement of the scale factor of the resonant accelerometer at the operational points by thermal boost approach.
· An in-depth assessment of the resonant accelerometer performance (such as: scale factor, bandwidth, noise floor and bias instability) was presented by operating the accelerometer at the operational points with various sensitivities of the resonator.
3. In Section VI. CONCLUSION
· A discussion of the limitations and potential future directions for the thermal boost approach.
In summary, we confirm that the majority (>80%) of the submitted manuscript has been submitted solely to this journal and is not published in 2024 International Frequency Control Symposium, in press, or submitted elsewhere. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding the manuscript.
Thank you for considering the manuscript for publication.
Yours sincerely,
Chengxin Li
Reference:
[1] C. Li, H. Zhang, C. Wang, A. Quan, M. Torunbalci, L. Wang, M. Kraft., “On tuning the sensitivity of thermal piezoresistive resonators by a DC thermal pumping scheme”, IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Joint Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan, 2024.
