Combination of PCBMEMS and laser ablation to construct inexpensive accelerometers

Abstract

The combination of standard Printed Circuit Board (PCB) techniques with laser ablation of the PCB substrate can lead to the creation of inexpensive but effective MEMS sensors. In this paper, these fabrication techniques are used to construct capacitive accelerometers with a suspended proof-mass. The proof-mass and the supporting springs are etched out of copper using standard photolithography, and they are released using selective laser ablation of the substrate. Later, the structure is bonded to another PCB by soldering with a hot plate. All the processing electronics can also be integrated in the same PCB. The total cost of the fabrication process is very low, and the experimental results show correct behavior.