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    Case Study 5 Capacitive Accelerometer

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    gauths snk
    This case study examines a capacitive accelerometer similar to the ADXL150. The accelerometer uses differential capacitors to detect the displacement of a movable electrode caused by acceleration. Signal processing is used to extract the displacement signal from the changing capacitance. Specifically: 1) The accelerometer contains multiple differential capacitor cells, each with a movable electrode between two fixed electrodes. Acceleration causes the movable electrode to displace, changing the capacitance. 2) Applying alternating voltages to the electrodes generates an electrostatic force that reduces the effective stiffness of the structure. This allows it to resonate at a lower frequency in response to acceleration. 3) Signal processing techniques like modulation and demodulation are used to extract the

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    Case Study 5 Capacitive Accelerometer

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    gauths snk
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    This case study examines a capacitive accelerometer similar to the ADXL150. The accelerometer uses differential capacitors to detect the displacement of a movable electrode caused by acceleration. Signal processing is used to extract the displacement signal from the changing capacitance. Specifically: 1) The accelerometer contains multiple differential capacitor cells, each with a movable electrode between two fixed electrodes. Acceleration causes the movable electrode to displace, changing the capacitance. 2) Applying alternating voltages to the electrodes generates an electrostatic force that reduces the effective stiffness of the structure. This allows it to resonate at a lower frequency in response to acceleration. 3) Signal processing techniques like modulation and demodulation are used to extract the

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    CS5

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    CS5-Problem

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    This case study examines a capacitive accelerometer similar to the ADXL150. The accelerometer uses differential capacitors to detect the displacement of a movable electrode caused by acceleration. Signal processing is used to extract the displacement signal from the changing capacitance. Specifically: 1) The accelerometer contains multiple differential capacitor cells, each with a movable electrode between two fixed electrodes. Acceleration causes the movable electrode to displace, changing the capacitance. 2) Applying alternating voltages to the electrodes generates an electrostatic force that reduces the effective stiffness of the structure. This allows it to resonate at a lower frequency in response to acceleration. 3) Signal processing techniques like modulation and demodulation are used to extract the

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    18 views4 pages

    Case Study 5 Capacitive Accelerometer

    Uploaded by

    gauths snk
    This case study examines a capacitive accelerometer similar to the ADXL150. The accelerometer uses differential capacitors to detect the displacement of a movable electrode caused by acceleration. Signal processing is used to extract the displacement signal from the changing capacitance. Specifically: 1) The accelerometer contains multiple differential capacitor cells, each with a movable electrode between two fixed electrodes. Acceleration causes the movable electrode to displace, changing the capacitance. 2) Applying alternating voltages to the electrodes generates an electrostatic force that reduces the effective stiffness of the structure. This allows it to resonate at a lower frequency in response to acceleration. 3) Signal processing techniques like modulation and demodulation are used to extract the

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Case Study 5

    Capacitive accelerometer

    Figure 1: Top view of the accelerometer ADXL150 developed by Analog Devices


    (http://microblog.routed.net/2007/04/06/ic-friday-analog-devices-adxl150/).

    In this case study, you will investigate a capacitive accelerometer similar to the ADXL150
    developed by Analog Devices (Fig. 1). Schematics are given in Fig. 2(a). A shuttle mass is
    attached between two folded springs. It is free to move along the axis joining these springs. All
    the moving parts of the ADXL150 are made of H = 2µm-thick polysilicon (density 2400kg/m3 ,
    Young’s modulus E = 160GPa). Structures are released by etching a sacrificial oxide of thickness
    Hs = 1.5µm. The sensor comprises N = 54 cells. Each cell is a differential capacitor that consists
    in one electrode (fixed to the shuttle) that moves in between two other electrodes (fixed to the
    underlying substrate) - cf. figure 2(b). The voltage is imposed to V1 and V2 for both fixed electrodes,
    and V3 for the moving electrode. The electrode length and width are Le = 100µm and We = 4µm,
    respectively. Each moving electrode is separated from the fixed electrodes by a nominal air gap
    d = 1.5µm of permittivity ε ' 9×10−12 F/m. When the shuttle is accelerated, the middle electrode
    of each cell moves a distance x towards a fixed electrode.

    Warm-up
    Find C1 and C2 as functions of x (fig. 2b). Write the Taylor series of these expressions around
    x = 0 (keep terms up to x3 included), and use this approximation here after.

    1
    (a) (b)

    Figure 2: (a) Schematics of the accelerometer ADXL150 (Senturia, Microsystem Design, p.514).
    (b) Schematic zoom on one cell (one electrode moving between two fixed electrodes).

    F/2"
    L"
    x"

    Figure 3: One of the two spring systems of the ADXL150. (left) Undeformed. (right) Deformed.
    Here the red hatched parts are much stiffer than the blue ones, and their deformation can be
    considered as negligible.

    2
    Mechanical response and noise
    The mass of the shuttle (+ moving electrodes) is m = 2.4 × 10−10 kg. The central part has a length
    Ls = 500µm and a width Ws = 50µm. The spring mechanism consists of two identical sets of beams
    of length L = 100µm and width W = 2.5µm distributed on both sides of the shuttle (Fig. 3).

    1. Calculate the mechanical stiffness k = F/x of the accelerometer, as a function of the beam
    dimensions. [Hint: consider first the bending of a cantilever beam of length L in response to
    both a force and a moment at its tip.]

    2. Signals V1 and V2 are chosen as sinusoids of amplitude VS = 2.5 V. V3 is connected to the


    ground. These voltages generate an additional electrostatic force on the shuttle that partially
    balances the elastic force (cf. electrostatic actuator). This results in a decreased effective
    stiffness ke of the accelerometer. Calculate ke in the limit of displacements x much smaller
    than the pull-in position. [Hint: calculate the second derivative of the electrostatic energy]
    Deduce the resonant angular frequency ω0 of the shuttle.

    3. What is the maximum acceleration that can be experienced without going beyond 50% of the
    pull-in position?

    4. Calculate the damping associated to the Couette flow between the shuttle and the underlying
    substrate. Then calculate the damping from the squeezed-film in between the electrodes.
    Estimate the quality factor Q resulting from fluid damping (the air viscosity is µa ' 18 ×
    10−6 Pa.s). The measured quality factor is Q = 5; compare this value to your estimation and
    conclude.

    5. Fluid damping is usually associated to a thermal noise, as well as any other dissipative
    process (e.g. resistors) in thermal equilibrium. This white noise generates a random force Fn
    of variance Z +∞
    ¯2
    F = Sn (f )df (1)
    n
    0
    where the spectral density Sn (f ) is

    Sn (f ) = 4kB T b, (2)

    and the thermal energy kB T ' 4 × 10−21 J at ambient temperature. Suppose that the ac-
    celerometer only picks up frequencies in a bandwidth ∆f = 1kHz. Calculate the noise (root
    mean square) on the acceleration, based on the experimental quality factor Q = 5.

    6. Estimate the squeezed-film damping of a motion perpendicular to the plane of the shuttle
    (i.e. along H). Conclude about the intrinsic cross-axis sensitivity of the device.

    Signal processing of the capacitive accelerometer


    1. Find i3 (defined in Fig.4) as a function of V1 , V2 and V3 .

    2. If the operational amplifier is ideal, how much is V3 ?

    3
    C3" i4"
    V1"
    i5"
    N.C1(x)" R3"
    i1" i3" V3"
    +"
    i2"
    ???"
    N.C2(x)" +" V4" V o"

    V2"

    Figure 4: Electrical interface of the differential capacitors.

    3. We would like the sensor to be as linear (according to x) and sensitive as possible. For a
    given V1 , how would you choose V2 to achieve this goal ? Once this choice made, rewrite i3
    as a function of V1 , x and their time derivatives.

    4. If V1 was chosen independent of time, what physical quantity would the sensor measure ?

    5. We want the sensor to measure the position x, and nothing else. For this reason, we choose
    V1 (t) = VS sin(ωS t). If you know that the signal x(t) contains frequencies up to ωx , how
    would you choose ωS ? Once this choice made, rewrite i3 as a function of V1 , x and their
    time derivatives.

    6. Calculate V4 as a function of both x and V1 in the limit where R3 C3 ωS  1.

    7. Sketch V4 (t) for a low-frequency x(t). The process by which x(t) is turned into V4 (t) is well-
    known in signal processing. Could you find the name of this process ? (hint: think about
    radio broadcasting).

    8. In order to have an output voltage Vo proportional to x, what kind of electrical circuit would
    you suggest between V4 and Vo ? In the following, we will assume that this additional circuit
    has a gain equal to unity, so Vo has the same magnitude as V4 .

    9. The input voltage is VS = 2.5V, and the capacitance C3 is 2.4 fF. Calculate the displacement
    sensitivity Vo /x. The resonant angular frequency of the structure is 2×105 rad/s. Deduce the
    acceleration sensitivity Vo /a, where a is the acceleration of the shuttle. Express it in mV/g
    (millivolts per g). What is the maximum acceleration that can be detected if the amplifier
    delivers a maximum output of 5V ?

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