JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, vol.13, no.4, pp.628-635, 2004 (SCI-Expanded)
A high-sensitivity, low-noise in-plane (lateral) capacitive silicon microaccelerometer utilizing a combined surface and bulk micromachining technology is reported. The accelerometer utilizes a 0.5-mm-thick, 2.4 x 1.0 mm(2) proof-mass and high aspect-ratio vertical polysilicon sensing electrodes fabricated using a trench refill process. The electrodes are separated from the proof-mass by a 1.1-mum sensing gap formed using a sacrificial oxide layer. The measured device sensitivity is 5.6 pF/g. A CMOS readout circuit utilizing a switched-capacitor front-end Sigma - Delta modulator operating at 1 MHz with chopper stabilization and correlated double sampling technique, can resolve a capacitance of 10 aF over a dynamic range of 120 dB in a 1 Hz BW. The measured input referred noise floor of the accelerometer-CMOS interface circuit is 1.6mug/rootHz in atmosphere.