Research Progress in the Miniaturization and High Precision of Accelerometers and Their Applications

As a core component of inertial navigation and precision measurement systems, the performance of an accelerometer is governed mainly by two metrics, miniaturization and high precision, which have defined the development trajectory of the field. This paper reviews the operating principles, performance characteristics and research status of representative accelerometers, spanning pendulous integrating gyro accelerometers (PIGAs), quartz flexural and vibrating-beam accelerometers, MEMS accelerometers, electrostatically suspended accelerometers and cold-atom (quantum) accelerometers, and summarizes the corresponding frontier technical routes. The analysis indicates that structural innovation (micro-leverage sensitivity enhancement, anti-spring stiffness softening and differential resonant architectures), advances in materials and fabrication (quartz force–frequency effect, SOI wafer-level bonding and femtosecond-laser-assisted etching), and signal-domain conversion (from analog-voltage readout to frequency- or quantum-state readout) constitute three core routes toward miniaturization and high precision, yielding differentiated products for aerospace, automotive electronics, unmanned systems and wearable devices. The technical challenges and development directions of each family are comparatively analyzed to provide a reference for the optimization of novel accelerometers.