A Single-crystal Silicon 3-axis CMOS-MEMS Accelerometer

TitleA Single-crystal Silicon 3-axis CMOS-MEMS Accelerometer
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsQu, H., D. Fang, and H. Xie
Conference NameIEEE Sensors, 2004
Date Published10/2004
PublisherIEEE
Conference LocationVienna, Austria
Keywords3-axis accelerometer, aluminum etching, CMOS-MEMS., Integrated accelerometer
Abstract

The paper presents a single-crystal silicon (SCS)-based, integrated 3-axis accelerometer fabricated using a post-CMOS micromachining process. This new CMOS-MEMS process provides monolithic integration of electronics and SCS microstructures, and electrical isolation of silicon. By employing a unique vertical sensing mechanism, 3-axis acceleration sensing is achieved with a single proof mass. The symmetric structures and fully differential configuration of all the sensing electrodes can greatly reduce the cross coupling among the 3 axes. By sacrificing one interconnect metal layer, the silicon undercut of the sensing comb fingers is minimized, resulting in much higher sensitivity with the same device footprint. A wet Al etching process was also developed to remove the top Al layer without attacking the Al layers exposed from the sidewalls of the multilayer Al/oxide stacks. A two-stage, open-loop, continuous time chopper stabilized amplifier is integrated on the chip.

URLhttp://uh7qf6fd4h.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=H&aulast=Qu&atitle=A+single-crystal+silicon+3-axis+CMOS-MEMS+accelerometer&id=doi:10.1109/ICSENS.2004.1426253
DOI10.1109/ICSENS.2004.1426253