In-plane and Out-of-plane MEMS Motion Sensors Based on Fringe Capacitances

New MEMS motion sensors have been developed. These prototypes are based on a sensing technique that exploits the fringe capacitance between two co-planar electrodes designed over a thin oxide layer covering a grounded wafer substrate. A relevant fraction of the electric-field streamlines, generated by the readout voltage applied between the electrodes, develops in the air (or vacuum) volume over the electrodes. A grounded suspended mass moving within this volume modifies the streamlines configuration, causing relative changes in the capacitance between the electrodes as large as the similar to 80% of the initial value. Two types of devices based on the described concept have been designed and built in an industrial surface micromachining process, to sense acceleration in the direction both parallel and orthogonal to the substrate surface. The realized devices have been tested and a sensitivity of similar to 0.9 fF/g and similar to 0.2 fF/g has been obtained for the in plane and for the out-of-plane structures respectively. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.