A new actuation scheme to enhance the linear momentum of MEMS inertia sensors

The micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) inertia sensors, such as silicon microgyroscopes, utilize linear momentum to detect the plane-motion information. Their sensing sensitivity is proportional to the amount of linear momentum created by the linear actuator within the sensor. In this paper, a new driving scheme is proposed to enhance the linear momentum with a larger linear displacement during actuation. In our implementation, the displacement can be 1.8 times or higher than that of achievable using the conventional form of actuation for the same system voltage. Or, if for the same actuation displacement, the proposed scheme can reduce the system voltage by at least 25% to be suitable for low-voltage system integration.