What is a MEMS accelerometer?
This type of accelerometer is based on microelectronic circuitry including a very small seismic mass. MEMS stands for micro-electro-mechanical systems and allows ultra-miniaturized sensors on PCB (printed circuit board) scale.
What is a MEMS capacitive accelerometer?
One important type of a MEMS accelerometer is the MEMS capacitive accelerometer, where a silicon sensing element with variable capacitance is integrated. It is made up of two plates and a cantilever flexure element between them. When the seismic mass deflects under acceleration, the capacitance between the plates changes. Modern smartphones typically contain MEMS capacitive accelerometers for movement and orientation detection.
Which MEMS accelerometer applications and variants exist?
MEMS capacitive accelerometers are especially beneficial for low-frequency vibration measurement, for example in Structural Health Monitoring. They are available both as single-axis and triaxial variants – measuring either in one axis only or in all three perpendicular axes. Depending on size, MEMS accelerometers can reach measuring ranges of several thousand g.
