DOE Patents title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Micromachined force-balance feedback accelerometer with optical displacement detection

Abstract

An accelerometer includes a proof mass and a frame that are formed in a handle layer of a silicon-on-an-insulator (SOI). The proof mass is separated from the frame by a back-side trench that defines a boundary of the proof mass. The accelerometer also includes a reflector coupled to a top surface of the proof mass. An optical detector is located above the reflector at the device side. The accelerometer further includes at least one suspension spring. The suspension spring has a handle anchor that extends downwards from the device side to the handle layer to mechanically support upward and downward movement of the proof mass relative to a top surface of the proof mass.

Inventors:
; ; ; ;
Issue Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1149912
Patent Number(s):
8783106
Application Number:
13/324,012
Assignee:
Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM)
Patent Classifications (CPCs):
G - PHYSICS G01 - MEASURING G01P - MEASURING LINEAR OR ANGULAR SPEED, ACCELERATION, DECELERATION, OR SHOCK
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Patent
Resource Relation:
Patent File Date: 2011 Dec 13
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
42 ENGINEERING

Citation Formats

Nielson, Gregory N., Langlois, Eric, Baker, Michael, Okandan, Murat, and Anderson, Robert. Micromachined force-balance feedback accelerometer with optical displacement detection. United States: N. p., 2014. Web.
Nielson, Gregory N., Langlois, Eric, Baker, Michael, Okandan, Murat, & Anderson, Robert. Micromachined force-balance feedback accelerometer with optical displacement detection. United States.
Nielson, Gregory N., Langlois, Eric, Baker, Michael, Okandan, Murat, and Anderson, Robert. Tue . "Micromachined force-balance feedback accelerometer with optical displacement detection". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1149912.
@article{osti_1149912,
title = {Micromachined force-balance feedback accelerometer with optical displacement detection},
author = {Nielson, Gregory N. and Langlois, Eric and Baker, Michael and Okandan, Murat and Anderson, Robert},
abstractNote = {An accelerometer includes a proof mass and a frame that are formed in a handle layer of a silicon-on-an-insulator (SOI). The proof mass is separated from the frame by a back-side trench that defines a boundary of the proof mass. The accelerometer also includes a reflector coupled to a top surface of the proof mass. An optical detector is located above the reflector at the device side. The accelerometer further includes at least one suspension spring. The suspension spring has a handle anchor that extends downwards from the device side to the handle layer to mechanically support upward and downward movement of the proof mass relative to a top surface of the proof mass.},
doi = {},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Tue Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}

Works referenced in this record:

Fiber optic accelerometer
patent, December 1980


Elastic wave accelerometer
patent, December 1981


Efficient semiconductor light-emitting device and method
patent, February 1996


Gimballed vibrating wheel gyroscope having strain relief features
patent, July 1997


Lorentz force magnetometer having a resonator
patent, September 1999


Microelectromechanical (MEMS)-based magnetostrictive magnetometer
patent, December 1999


Micromachined members coupled for relative rotation by torsion bars
patent, April 2000


Micro-electro-opto-mechanical inertial sensor
patent, February 2002


Micromachined members coupled for relative rotation by hinges
patent, May 2002


Differential amplification for micro-electro-mechanical ultra-sensitive accelerometer
patent, April 2003


Lorentz force driven mechanical filter/mixer designs for RF applications
patent, November 2004


Multi-axis micro-electro-mechanical actuator
patent, July 2005


Highly-sensitive displacement-measuring optical device
patent, October 2006


Nanomechanical near-field grating apparatus and acceleration sensor formed therefrom
patent, March 2008


Resonant magnetometer device
patent, July 2008


Highly-sensitive displacement-measuring optical device
patent, October 2008


Optical scanning using vibratory diffraction gratings
patent, June 2009


Fiber optic MEMS seismic sensor with mass supported by hinged beams
patent, June 2010


Fabrication of thermal microphotonic sensors and sensor arrays
patent, October 2010


Tuned optical cavity magnetometer
patent, November 2010


Optical sensing in a directional MEMS microphone
patent, November 2010


Self-calibrating laser semiconductor accelerometer
patent, July 2011


Microelectromechanical inertial sensor
patent, June 2012


Twin Sub-Wavelength Grating Optical Signal Processor
patent-application, August 2012


Micromachined Accelerometers With Optical Interferometric Read-Out and Integrated Electrostatic Actuation
journal, February 2008


Micromachined optical microphone structures with low thermal-mechanical noise levels
journal, October 2007


In-Plane Nano-G Accelerometer Based on an Optical Resonant Detection System
conference, June 2007

  • Krishnamoorthy, U.; Carr, D. W.; Bogart, G. R.
  • TRANSDUCERS '07 & Eurosensors XXI. 2007 14th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, TRANSDUCERS 2007 - 2007 International Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference
  • https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSOR.2007.4300350

In-plane MEMS-based nano-g accelerometer with sub-wavelength optical resonant sensor
journal, July 2008


    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Multi-force input device
    patent, October 2017


    Haptic feedback assembly
    patent, September 2017