Convective Accelerometer and Tilt Sensor in CMOS Technology

Published

November 12, 1998

Author(s)

V. Milanovic, E. D. Bowen, N. H. Tea, Michael Gaitan, Mona E. Zaghloul

Abstract

This paper describes a CMOS implementation of novel ID and 2D accelerometers that operate based on heat convection, requiring no solid proof mass. The devices consist of micromachined microheaters and thermocouple sensors separated by a gap and placed in differential configurations. Thermocouple sensors measure the temperature difference between two sides of the microheater caused by the effect of acceleration on free convection in the surrounding gas. The devices show small linearity error of < 0.5% under tilt conditions from -90 degrees C to 90 degrees C, and < 1.6% under acceleration from 0 g to 8 g. Sensitivity of the devices is a nearly linear function of heater power (temperature). For operating power between 35 mW and 45 mW, sensitivity of 20 υV/g to 30 υV/g was measured.

Proceedings Title

Proc., American Society of Engineers Conference

Conference Dates

November 12-15, 1998

Conference Location

Anaheim, CA, USA

Conference Title

American Society of Engineers Conference

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

accelerometer, CMOS, convection, micromachining, sensors, thermopile, tilt sensor

Citation

Milanovic, V. , Bowen, E. , Tea, N. , Gaitan, M. and Zaghloul, M. (1998), Convective Accelerometer and Tilt Sensor in CMOS Technology, Proc., American Society of Engineers Conference, Anaheim, CA, USA (Accessed October 10, 2025)