A GaAs micromachined accelerometer with frequency output based on resonant tunneling diodes

The paper reports a novel GaAs micromachined accelerometer with frequency output based on resonant tunneling diodes (RTD). The sensitive unit of the accelerometer is the RTD which is located on GaAs beams. Based on the piezoresistive effect of RTD and the frequency characteristics of RTD oscillator, the accelerometer transducers acceleration into frequency output. This kind of accelerometer has been fabricated by surface processes and GaAs micromachining bulk etch processes