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Linearity analysis of closed-loop capacitive accelerometer due to distance mismatch between plates and the influence of compensation capacitor array

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Abstract

This paper presents mathematical formulae showing that the distance mismatch for an uncentered proof mass in an accelerator sensor does not influence the linearity of the closed-loop accelerometer as a whole. This asymmetry in sensors only introduces an output voltage offset in the readout integrated circuit. Numerical simulation using Matlab/Simulink confirms the mathematical conclusion. The linear response after compensation with a conventional capacitor array is also simulated and analyzed. Results show that there is a loss in linearity. Similar results hold not only for the continuous-time architecture, but also for a time-divided architecture. A readout integrated circuit with a time-divided architecture is designed and fabricated using a 0.35 μm HV CMOS process. An accelerometer composed of a microelectromechanical system sensor with severe built-in distance mismatch and the designed readout integrated circuit is tested. Test results show that the nonlinearity of such accelerometer is within 0.3%.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, Institute of Microelectronics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    JingQing Huang, Meng Zhao, TingTing Zhang, ZhongJian Chen, LiChen Hong, Feng Wu, YaCong Zhang, WenGao Lu, ChengChen Gao & YiLong Hao

Authors
  1. JingQing Huang
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  2. Meng Zhao
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  3. TingTing Zhang
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  4. ZhongJian Chen
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  6. Feng Wu
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  7. YaCong Zhang
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  8. WenGao Lu
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Correspondence to ZhongJian Chen.

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Huang, J., Zhao, M., Zhang, T. et al. Linearity analysis of closed-loop capacitive accelerometer due to distance mismatch between plates and the influence of compensation capacitor array. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 57, 1–12 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-013-4863-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-013-4863-0

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