High-temp MEMS goes seismic
Analog Devices Inc., is offering a dual-axis accelerometer capable of withstanding up 175 degrees Celsius (342 degrees Fahrenheit) for ruggedized industrial applications. The device is based on what ADI calls the world’s first high-temperature micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology.
Today, applications using an accelerometer in a high-temperature environment, such as tools used in geological down-hole measurements, require complex compensation circuitry to ensure that readings are not skewed by temperature. The new iMEMS ADXL206, on the other hand, has virtually no quantization errors or other non-monotonic behaviors over its entire operating range, from -40 degrees to +175 degrees Celsius, according to ADI.
According to Wayne Meyer, marketing and applications manager for ADI’s MEMS/Sensors Technology Group, the device’s temperature hysteresis is very low, typically less than 2 mg over the entire – 40 to +175 degrees Celsius temperature range.
The high-temperature dual-axis accelerometer has a full-scale range of plus or minus five g-force and is capable of measuring both dynamic acceleration (tilt) and static acceleration (gravity), according to ADI.
ADXLxx MEMS accelerometers use beams attached to movable plates interdigitated
with fixed plates.
While designed for ruggedized applications such as smart-drilling rigs that must excavate miles below the earth’s surface, the high-temperature iMEMS accelerometer is also an ultra low-power device, consuming only about 700 microamps, depending on operating mode, according to ADI. Bandwidths of 0.5-Hz to 2.5-kHz are user selectable with an ultra-low noise floor and milli-g resolution capable of resolving tilts as fine as 0.06 degrees of inclination, according to the company.
The 13-by-8-by-2 millimeter eight-lead package is available in side-brazed ceramic and is capable of surviving 3500-g shocks for use in ruggedized high-temperature installations.
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