Design and Performance Analysis of a Multigrooved Cantilever-Type Piezoelectric Accelerometer

How to improve the sensitivity of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) piezoelectric accelerometers has become a key technical problem in consumer electronics. In this article, a multigrooved cantilever-type piezoelectric accelerometer based on composite film is manufactured to obtain high sensitivity of 4.62 mV/g, excessing typical accelerometer (3.36 mV/g). The theoretical model and finite element model are established to analyze the relationship between cantilever stiffness, stress distribution, and sensitivity. The proposed accelerometers are fabricated by MEMS processes to form Mo/AlN/ScAlN/Mo piezoelectric stacks as the sensing layer. The experimental results show that the sensitivity, linearity, minimum detectable signal (MDS), and resonant frequency of the proposed piezoelectric accelerometer with multiple grooves are 4.62 mV/g, 0.99964, 0.02 g, and 15 320 Hz, respectively. This new structure can provide inspiration for the design of high-sensitivity and high-linear MEMS piezoelectric accelerometers.