An Optomechanical Accelerometer with a High-Finesse Hemispherical Optical Cavity

Published

February 22, 2016

Author(s)

Yiliang Bao, Felipe Guzman, Arvind Balijepalli, John Lawall, Jacob Taylor, Thomas W. LeBrun, Jason J. Gorman

Abstract

A new design for an optomechanical accelerometer is presented. The design includes a hemispherical optical cavity that can achieve high finesse and a proof mass that is well-constrained by silicon nitride beams. Based on previous work and analysis, the resolution of the accelerometer will be below 1 μg/rt-Hz. Novel MEMS fabrication processes have been developed for the accelerometer that provide optimized optical and mechanical elements. The optical cavity in the accelerometer has been characterized and a tunable laser has been locked to the cavity, thereby demonstrating the possibility for closed-loop operation of the accelerometer.

Proceedings Title

IEEE International Symposium on Inertial Sensors and Systems

Conference Dates

February 23-25, 2016

Conference Location

Laguna Beach, CA, US

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/ISISS.2016.7435556

Local Download

Keywords

accelerometer, MEMS, Fabry-Perot, optical cavity

Citation

Bao, Y. , Guzman, F. , Balijepalli, A. , Lawall, J. , Taylor, J. , LeBrun, T. and Gorman, J. (2016), An Optomechanical Accelerometer with a High-Finesse Hemispherical Optical Cavity, IEEE International Symposium on Inertial Sensors and Systems, Laguna Beach, CA, US, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/ISISS.2016.7435556, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=920261 (Accessed July 26, 2025)