A dual axis CMOS micromachined convective thermal accelerometer

We present a dual axis accelerometer made with a frontside bulk micromachining on a 0.35 μm CMOS. The accelerometer is based on thermal convection where a central suspended hot plate creates a hot gas bubble. In-plane acceleration applied to the body will change the temperature distribution on the device, the latter being measured by four detectors containing six serially connected thermocouples. The paper will present the modelling of the device with a specific spherical model as well as measurements of sensitivity and linearity.