Structural fabrication of a ring-type motion sensor

Abstract

The structural fabrication of a ring-type motion sensor is described. This micromachined ring-type sensor can be used to detect both yaw rate and linear acceleration. The fabrication is based on deep silicon etching and wafer bonding. An aspect ratio dependent effect (ARDE) always occurs in the dry etching process for a micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) device. Additionally, three processes are developed and modified progressively for eliminating ARDE from the fabrication results. Results indicate that the proposed process provides more flexibility than other processes with respect to the structural fabrication of a MEMS device. The sensitivity of the sensor characteristic to the manufacturing errors is considered as well.