EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This document describes the design of the MEMS strain sensor and accelerometer to be used for the MEMSCON Project.  

Typical design steps including basic calculations, but also exhaustive simulation work using tools like Algor or ANSYS. During the design process not only mechanical effects, but also limitations of the fabrication technology have to be considered. Within this report the major steps and the final design parameters are presented 

The new sensor designs in combination with technologies development are always having some risks. Process variations or material parameters may not be know exactly during the design, and may result in a drift of sensor performance. Good design practice is therefore the addition of several design variation in the first layout.

For the strain sensor four design variations are included in the first mask layout. 

For the first design cycle of the 3D accelerometer it was decided to place the two in plane sensors (x,y) on the same chip, and the out of plane sensor (z) on a seperated chip. Both chips will be assembled together with the ASIC in the one package. This apparoach allows more design variations and is reducing yield problems. The layout of the first 3D accelerometer is including 3 different x,y sensor designs and 4 different z sensor designs.