A MEMS piezoelectric in-plane resonant accelerometer with two-stage micro-leverage mechanism

Abstract

In this paper, we firstly present a MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) piezoelectric in-plane resonant accelerometer with two-stage micro-leverage mechanism. Double ended tuning fork (DETF) resonators are actuated and sensed by piezoelectric transduction with aluminum nitride (AlN). Optimized configuration of DETF resonators and two-stage micro-leverage mechanism are proposed to enhance sensitivity of the resonant accelerometer. The preliminary characterization of the device was tested in a vacuum chamber at the pressure of 4 mTorr. The sensitivity of the device is 28.4Hz/g at the base frequency around 141 kHz (201 ppm/g), which is higher than the previously reported data.