Lightweight Thermal Compensation Technique for MEMS Capacitive Accelerometer Oriented to Quasi-Static Measurements

Area of Science:

• Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
• Sensor Technology
• Metrology

Background:

• MEMS capacitive accelerometers are limited by thermal dependence, necessitating individual calibration.
• Existing calibration methods can be data-intensive and computationally costly.
• Accurate thermal compensation is crucial for reliable accelerometer performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a faster, more efficient calibration method for MEMS capacitive accelerometers.
• To accurately determine the temperature drift of bias (TDB) and temperature drift of scale factor (TDSF).
• To reduce the computational cost of thermal compensation.

Main Methods:

• A novel calibration method based on theoretical studies was developed.
• Characteristic parameters (TDB and TDSF) were obtained for six IS3DSH accelerometers.
• Testing was conducted within a temperature range of 15 °C to 55 °C.

Main Results:

• The TDB was identified as the primary contributor to thermal drift, reaching up to 1.3 mg/°C.
• TDSF ranged from 0 to -400 ppm/°C.
• Thermal compensation achieved an average performance improvement of 47%, with over 80% improvement in high-drift axes.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method enables faster and more efficient calibration of MEMS accelerometers.
• The developed compensation significantly mitigates thermal drift effects.
• The method also reduces the impact of temporal drift and self-heating on sensor accuracy.