MEMS optomechanical accelerometry standards

Abstract

Current acceleration primary standards reach relative uncertainties of the order of 0.001 and consist of complex test facilities, typically operated at National Metrology Institutes. Our research focuses on the development of silicon mechanical oscillator chips that will be equipped with optical micro-cavities to allow a direct SI-traceability by linking the displacement of the oscillator’s mass to laser frequency changes in a Fabry-Pérot resonator. We are building on the advance manufacturing techniques from the semiconductor industry to produce our devices. Silicon chip pairs with both, solid concave micro-mirrors and mechanical oscillators, will be bonded together, resulting in compact and portable primary acceleration standards that can be deployed on the field. We will present our initial results measured from silicon high-finesse optical micro-cavities and mechanical resonators.