A Mems Vibrating Beam Accelerometer for High Resolution Seismometry and Gravimetry

Abstract

A differential MEMS vibrating beam accelerometer (VBA) demonstrating excellent stability for seismology and gravimetry applications is presented. The accelerometer response demonstrates excellent linearity over an acceleration range of ±1 g (1 g = 9.8 m s-2) with a scale factor of 9825 Hz/g. An approximately flat output Allan deviation with an average value of 15 ng is recorded over integration times τ = 1 s – 1000 s with a best-case bias instability of < 10 ng and a noise floor of 10 ng/√H. These results, taken collectively, set new benchmarks for vibrating beam MEMS accelerometers.