Study of silicon bulk micromachined angular acceleration sensor

The measurement and control of motion is increasingly required in automotive and robotics applications, where cheap sensors are highly desirable. In this field silicon technology is a good approach in terms of performance/price ratio since complex functions can be integrated into a single device. A bulk silicon micromachined structure 6.4 mm×6.4 mm in size was designed and fabricated, which can detect angular acceleration and acceleration simultaneously and independently. This is accomplished by capacitive detection of the tilt due to angular acceleration and the displacement due to acceleration of mass by torsion bar.