Hewlett packard's seismic grade MEMS accelerometer

Abstract

HP has recently made its plans to develop an ultrahigh-resolution seismic sensing solution public. This solution is being developed with Royal Dutch Shell Corporation for oil and gas exploration. Central to delivering this system is HP's new single axis seismic grade MEMS accelerometer. The HP device uses both bulk micromachining methods and standard thin film technologies as well as HP's new three phase sensing technology. This sensor detects motion when an array of electrodes located on the proof mass moves relative to a stationary array of electrodes across a fixed gap. Initial characterization shows a flat noise power spectral density of <; 100 nG/vHz over a bandwidth of DC-200 Hz. The device exhibits a linear response to +/- 150mG with a sensitivity of over 25 V/g within the specified bandwidth.