RU2597951C1 - Integral tunnel accelerometer - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: measuring equipment.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to measurement equipment and microsystems. This invention consists in the fact that the device additionally includes four additional fixed electrodes, made with comb-shaped structures made of semiconducting material and located directly on semiconducting substrate, four movable electrode made in form of plates with perforation and comb-shaped structures made of semiconducting material and arranged with clearance relative to the semiconductor substrate so that they form tunnel contacts with additional fixed electrodes in the plane of their plates, the second and the third additional inertia masses made in the form of perforated plates of semiconducting material and arranged with clearance relative to the semiconducting substrate so that they form tunnel contacts with fixed electrodes in the plane of their plates, twelve additional spring beams, made of semiconducting material and arranged with clearance relative to semiconducting substrate, two torsion bars made of semiconducting material and arranged with clearance relative to semiconducting substrate, two additional supports made of semiconducting material and located directly on semiconducting substrate.

EFFECT: technical result is possibility of measuring values of linear acceleration along axes X and Y, mutually perpendicular in plane of the substrate, and the Z axis directed perpendicular to plane of the substrate.

1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The present invention relates to the field of measuring technology and microsystem technology, and more particularly to integrated measuring elements of linear acceleration.

Known integrated micromechanical accelerometer [A. Selvakumar, F. Ayazi, K. Najafi, A High Sensitivity Z-Axis Torsional Silicon Accelerometer, Digest, IEEE International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM96), San Francisco, CA, December 1996, p. 765, fig. 1a], containing a dielectric substrate and an inertial mass located with a gap relative to the dielectric substrate, made in the form of a plate with a comb structure on one side of a semiconductor material and connected to the substrate using elastic beams made of a semiconductor material, which are rigidly connected to one end with inertial mass, and others with supports made of semiconductor material and located directly on the dielectric substrate, a stationary electrode with heat on the one hand, made of a semiconductor material and located on a dielectric substrate with a gap relative to the inertial mass.

This accelerometer allows you to measure the linear acceleration along the Z axis, perpendicular to the plane of the accelerometer substrate.

Signs of an analog that coincide with the essential features are inertial mass, elastic beams made of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the substrate, supports made of semiconductor material and located directly on the substrate, a fixed electrode with a comb structure on one side made of semiconductor material and located directly on the substrate.

The disadvantage of the design of the accelerometer is the inability to measure linear acceleration along two mutually perpendicular axes X and Y located in the plane of the substrate.

A functional analogue of the claimed object is an integrated micromechanical accelerometer [J.P. Lynch, A. Partridge, K.N. Law, T.W. Kenny, A.S. Kiremidjian, E. Carryer, Design of Piezoresistive MEMS-Based Accelerometer for Integration with Wireless Sensing Unit for Structural Monitoring, Journal of Aerospace Engineering, July 2003, p. 110, fig. 1] containing a substrate, a fixed electrode, an inertial mass made in the form of a plate of semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the substrate, an elastic beam, which is rigidly connected to the inertial mass at one end and an additional fixed electrode is rigidly fixed relative to the substrate, moreover, the substrate, the inertial mass, the elastic beam are made of semiconductor material, the inertial mass in the plane of the substrate has the shape of a sector, the stationary electrodes are semi water areas of the first type of conductivity.

This accelerometer allows you to measure the linear acceleration along the Z axis, perpendicular to the plane of the accelerometer substrate.

Signs of an analogue that coincide with the essential features are a semiconductor substrate, an inertial mass, an elastic beam made of a semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the substrate.

The disadvantage of the design of the accelerometer is the inability to measure linear acceleration along two mutually perpendicular axes X and Y located in the plane of the substrate.

Of the known closest in technical essence to the claimed object is an integrated micromechanical accelerometer [J.W. Weigold, K. Najafi, S.W. Pang, Design and Fabrication of Submicrometer, Single Crystal Si Accelerometer, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 10, No. 4, 2001, p. 520, fig. 2], containing a semiconductor substrate with two stationary electrodes located on it, made with comb structures of a semiconductor material, an inertial mass made in the form of a plate with perforation and comb structures of a semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the substrate and connected to the semiconductor substrate using four elastic beams made of semiconductor material located with a gap relative to the substrate, which at one end are rigidly connected to the inertial mass, and others to supports made of semiconductor material and located directly on the substrate.

This accelerometer allows you to measure the linear acceleration along the X axis located in the plane of the substrate.

Signs of an analogue that coincide with the essential features are a semiconductor substrate, inertial mass, elastic beams made of a semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the substrate, supports, stationary electrodes made of a semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate.

The disadvantage of the design of the accelerometer is the impossibility of measuring linear acceleration along the Z axis directed perpendicular to the plane of the accelerometer substrate, and Y located perpendicular to the X axis in the plane of the accelerometer substrate.

The objective of the invention is the ability to measure linear acceleration along the X and Y axes located mutually perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, and the Z axis directed perpendicular to the plane of the substrate.

The technical result achieved by the implementation of the proposed invention is the ability to measure linear acceleration along the X and Y axes located mutually perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, and the Z axis directed perpendicular to the plane of the substrate.

The technical result is achieved by introducing four additional stationary electrodes made with comb structures of semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate, four movable electrodes made in the form of plates with perforation and comb structures of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, that they form tunneling contacts with additional stationary electrodes in the plane of their plate stins, second and third additional inertial masses made in the form of plates with perforation of a semiconductor material and arranged with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, so that they form tunnel contacts with fixed electrodes in the plane of their plates, twelve additional elastic beams made of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, two torsion bars made of semiconductor material and located with a gap include flax semiconductor substrate, two additional supports made of a semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate.

To achieve the desired technical result, an integral micromechanical accelerometer containing a semiconductor substrate with two fixed electrodes located on it, made with comb structures of semiconductor material, an inertial mass made in the form of a plate with perforation and comb structures of semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the substrate , four elastic beams made of a semiconductor material, located with a gap relative In particular, substrates, supports made of semiconductor material and located directly on the substrate, four additional stationary electrodes made with comb structures of semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate, four movable electrodes made in the form of plates with perforation and comb structures of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, so that they form a tunneling contour you with additional stationary electrodes in the plane of their plates, the second and third additional inertial masses made in the form of plates with perforation of a semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, so that they form tunnel contacts with the stationary electrodes in the plane of their plates, twelve additional elastic beams made of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, two torsion bars made of p semiconductor material and disposed with a gap with respect to the semiconductor substrate, two additional support made of semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate.

Comparing the proposed device with the prototype, we see that it contains new features, that is, meets the criterion of novelty. Carrying out a comparison with analogues, we conclude that the proposed device meets the criterion of "significant differences", since no new features are shown in the analogues.

In FIG. 1 shows the topology of the proposed integrated tunnel accelerometer and sections are shown. In FIG. 2 shows the structure of the proposed integrated tunnel accelerometer.

The integrated tunnel accelerometer (Fig. 1) contains a semiconductor substrate 1 with six stationary electrodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 located on it, made with comb structures of semiconductor material, four movable electrodes 8, 9, 10, 11, made in the form of plates with perforation and comb structures of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, forming tunnel contacts with fixed electrodes 2, 3, 4, 5 in the plane of their plates and associated with the semiconductor single substrate 1 using elastic beams 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, made of semiconductor material, which at one end are rigidly connected to the movable electrodes 8, 9, 10, 11, and the other with supports 20 , 21, 22, 23, made of a semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate 1, the first inertial mass 24, made in the form of a plate with perforation of the semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, connected with the movable electrodes 8, 9, 10 s by means of elastic beams 25, 26, 27, 28 made of a semiconductor material located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, the second inertial mass 29 made in the form of a plate with perforation of the semiconductor material located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, associated with movable electrodes 8, 9, 11 using elastic beams 30, 31, 32, 33 made of semiconductor material located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, the third inertial mass 34 made in ide plate with perforation and comb structures of semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, connected with the first and second inertial masses 24, 29 using torsion bars 35, 36 made of semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate 1, forming tunnel contacts with fixed electrodes 6, 7 in the plane of their plates, supports 37, 38 made of semiconductor material, located directly on the semiconductor substrate 1.

The device operates as follows.

When applying a supply voltage to the moving structures of the accelerometer, including moving electrodes 8, 9, 10, 11, inertial masses 24, 29, 34 relative to the stationary electrodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, to which a zero potential is applied, due to the small air gap separating the combs of the movable electrodes 8, 9, 10, 11, the inertial mass 34 and the combs of the stationary electrodes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, electrons having a sufficient probability of passing through the potential barrier formed by the gap between the combs, tunnel in the region of the movable electrodes 8, 9, 10, 11, inertial mass 34 and create tunneling currents.

When linear acceleration occurs along the X axis located in the plane of the semiconductor substrate 1, the inertial masses 24, 29, 34 under the influence of inertia move along the X axis due to the bending of the elastic beams 12, 13, 16, 17, which are connected at one end to the movable electrodes 8, 9, respectively, and others with supports 20, 21, 22, 23, and bending of elastic beams 25, 26, 30, 31. Changes in tunnel currents flowing between the combs of moving 8, 9 and fixed 2, 3 electrodes, due to changes in the gap between them characterize the magnitude of the linear acceleration Eden.

When linear acceleration occurs along the Y axis located in the plane of the semiconductor substrate 1, the inertial masses 24, 29, 34 under the influence of inertia move along the Y axis due to the bending of the elastic beams 14, 15, 18, 19, 27, 28, 32, 33 Changes in the tunneling currents flowing between the combs of the movable 10, 11 and stationary 4, 5 electrodes, due to changes in the gap between them, characterize the magnitude of the linear acceleration.

When linear acceleration occurs along the Z axis, perpendicular to the plane of the semiconductor substrate 1, the inertial mass 34 is deflected perpendicular to the plane of the semiconductor substrate 1 due to torsion 35, 36 due to inertia forces. Changes in tunnel currents flowing between the inertial mass combs 34 and the stationary electrodes 6 , 7, due to a change in the magnitude of their overlap area, they characterize the value of linear acceleration.

Supports 37, 38 act as restraints on the movement of inertial masses 24, 29, 34 in the plane of the semiconductor substrate 1.

Thus, the proposed device is an integrated tunnel accelerometer that allows you to measure linear acceleration along the X and Y axes located in the plane of the substrate, and the Z axis directed perpendicular to the plane of the substrate.

The introduction of four additional stationary electrodes made with comb structures of semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate, four movable electrodes made in the form of plates with perforation and comb structures of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, so that they form tunnel junctions with additional stationary electrodes in the plane of their plates, two additional inertial masses made in the form of plates with perforation of a semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, twelve additional elastic beams made of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, two torsion bars made of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, two additional supports made of semiconductor material and located directly on the floor ovodnikovoy substrate allows measurement values of linear acceleration along the axes X and Y, are mutually spaced perpendicularly to the plane of the semiconductor substrate, and an axis Z, perpendicular to the directional plane of the semiconductor substrate.

Thus, in comparison with similar devices, the proposed integrated tunnel accelerometer reduces the area of the semiconductor substrate used for the placement of measuring elements of linear acceleration values, since only one integral tunnel accelerometer is used to measure linear acceleration along three axes.

Claims (1)

An integrated tunnel accelerometer containing a semiconductor substrate with two stationary electrodes located on it, made with comb structures of a semiconductor material, an inertial mass made in the form of a plate with perforation and comb structures of a semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the substrate, four elastic beams made from a semiconductor material, located with a gap relative to the substrate, supports made of a semiconductor material and located directly on the substrate, characterized in that four additional stationary electrodes are introduced into it, made with comb structures of semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate, four movable electrodes made in the form of perforated plates and comb structures of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, so that they form tunneling contacts with additional fixed electrodes in the plane of their plates, the second and third additional inertial masses made in the form of plates with perforation of a semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, so that they form tunnel contacts with fixed electrodes in the plane of their plates, twelve additional elastic beams made of semiconductor material and located with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, two torsion bars made of semiconductor material and laid with a gap relative to the semiconductor substrate, two additional supports made of semiconductor material and located directly on the semiconductor substrate.

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