A skew-symmetric cantilever accelerometer for automotive airbag applications

✍ Scribed by Kyu Hyun Kim; Jong Soo Ko; Young-Ho Cho; Kwyro Lee; Byung Man Kwak; Kwanhum Park

• Book ID: 103959828
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 547 KB
• Volume: 50
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0924-4247
• DOI: 10.1016/0924-4247(96)80095-1

✦ Synopsis

A piezoresistive cantilever-beam microaccelerometer has been designed, fabricated and tested with a hybrid airbag electronic control unit for automobile crash detection. A skew-symmetric accelerometer has been proposed and the associated fabrication process has been developed. A simultaneous etching process for beam-thickness control, fillet-rounding formation and corner compensation is discussed. The microfabricated device shows a flat response with a resonance frequency of (2.07 \mathrm{kHz}) and a sensitivity of (65 \mu \mathrm{V}^{-1} \mathrm{~V}^{-1}). A sensitivity of (67 \mathrm{mV} \mathrm{g}^{-1}) has been measured from the assembled unit with a non-linearity of (4 %). The present skew-symmetric design and associated fabrication methods provide effective means for improving the robustness and reliability, as well as the transverse sensitivity of cantilever-beam accelerators.