Technology, Principles, and Applications of Inertia Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Technology

摘要

This tutorial covers three major topic related to technology, physics, and applications of micro-scale inertial sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes). The first part provides a basic introduction to technology of MEMS, covering primary questions needed to evaluate micro machining as a technology of choice for inertial micro-sensors. Three technologies, surface micromachining, bulk micromachining, and mixed fabrication processes will be introduced and compared. The second part of the tutorial will be devoted to (ⅰ) overview of research and development efforts worldwide; (ⅱ) introduction to the principles of operation and detection; (ⅲ) review of advantages and challenges; and (ⅳ) speculation about possible future design trends. The tutorial will be concluded by highlighting a wide range of applications enabled by inertial micro-sensors and discuss future opportunities for this sensor technology in medicine, robotics and defense.