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A MEMS Inertial Switch Based on Non-silicon Surface Micromachining Technology

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Micro Electro Mechanical Systems

Part of the book series: Micro/Nano Technologies ((MNT,volume 2))

Abstract

The inertial switch as a kind of passive electric device is also called shock sensor (G-sensor), acceleration switch, vibration threshold sensor, or G-switch. With the developments of semiconductor and integrated circuit technologies, especially, the MEMS-based inertial switches have been attracting much attention due to many advantages such as small size, lower costs, and large volume production. And they are widely used in many applications such as accessories, toys, the transportation of special goods, automotive electronics, remote monitoring (RMON), Internet of Things (IoT) fields, etc. In this chapter, the basic physical model and the working principle of MEMS-based inertial switch is presented firstly. Then the latest progress of the MEMS inertial switch is introduced. Subsequently, the MEMS inertial switch based on non-silicon surface micromachining technology is described in detail, including its design, simulation, fabrication, and characterization. In addition, the inertial microswitches with different sensitive directions are proposed and fabricated, including the triaxial inertial switch and omnidirectional sensitive ones. Finally, a simple application example of the fabricated MEMS inertial switch is also performed for potential vibration monitoring module and system applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the supports from the Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (2015AA042701), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51205254, No. 61571287), Advanced Research Ministry of Education Joint Foundation (6141A02033403), SJTU SMC Young Scholar Program (16X100080044), and the National Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Fabrication Technology Foundation (9140C790403150C79332). The authors would also like to thank Prof. H. Wang, Dr. H. Cai, Dr. W. Chen, Dr. Q. Xu, Mr. Q. Zhang, Mr. B. Zhu, Ms. H. Shen, and Ms. Y. Wang for their important works about the improvements of the device prototypes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), 800 Dongchuan Rd, Minhang, 200240, Shanghai, China

    Zhuoqing Yang, Guifu Ding, Yan Wang & Xiaolin Zhao

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  1. Zhuoqing Yang
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  2. Guifu Ding
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  3. Yan Wang
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  4. Xiaolin Zhao
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Correspondence to Zhuoqing Yang .

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  1. Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Qing-An Huang

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Yang, Z., Ding, G., Wang, Y., Zhao, X. (2017). A MEMS Inertial Switch Based on Non-silicon Surface Micromachining Technology. In: Huang, QA. (eds) Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. Micro/Nano Technologies, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2798-7_31-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2798-7_31-1

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