High-Performance SOI-Based MEMS Inertial Sensors

Speaker：Ruihong Xiong

Location: SIST 2-515

Time：31^st Mar. 2026 14:30

Host: Prof. Tao Wu

Abstract:

MEMS inertial sensors are widely used in seismic monitoring, industrial sensing, structural health monitoring, oil exploration, and inertial navigation. With the increasing demand for high-performance sensing systems, stricter requirements are imposed on sensor resolution, dynamic range, stability, and miniaturization. In micro-vibration measurement applications, accelerometers are expected to detect extremely weak low-frequency signals while maintaining a sufficiently large dynamic range for practical environments. However, conventional high-resolution MEMS accelerometers often face a trade-off between sensitivity and dynamic range, which limits their application in demanding scenarios. In addition, fabrication-induced frequency split remains a key challenge for MEMS axisymmetric gyroscopes, as it degrades modal matching and affects sensing performance. This work focuses on key technologies for high-performance MEMS inertial sensors based on the SOI platform. For accelerometers, compact quasi-zero-stiffness structures and electrothermally tunable stiffness mechanisms are proposed to improve sensitivity and noise performance while preserving a wide operating range. For gyroscopes, a piezoelectric axisymmetric resonator with enhanced structural robustness to fabrication errors is developed to reduce frequency split through structural and process optimization.

Biography:

Ruihong Xiong received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Nanchang University, Nanchang, China, in 2020. He is currently pursuing a Doctor's degree in electrical engineering at ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China. His research interests focus on the design and development of micromachine inertia sensor and multi-physics microsystems.