Low-cost tunneling accelerometer technology for high dynamic range applications

We have developed high dynamic range (10/sup 5/-10/sup 6/ g's) tunneling accelerometers that may be ideal for smart munitions applications. These highly miniaturized surface-micromachined devices can be manufactured at very low cost and integrated on chip with the control electronics. Fully integrated sensors may provide advantages in minimizing microphonics for high-g applications. Previously, we described initial test results using electrostatic forces generated by a self-test electrode located under a Au cantilever. We describe the testing of Ni and Au cantilever devices on a shaker table using a novel, low input voltage (5 V) servo controller on both printed wiring board and surface-mount control circuitry. In addition, we report our initial test results for devices packaged using a low-temperature wafer-level vacuum packaging technique for low-cost manufacturing.