Abstract
This paper proposes a high sensitivity electric field microsensor (EFM) based on torsional resonance. The proposed microsensor adopts torsional shutter, which is composed of shielding electrodes and torsional beams. The movable shielding electrodes and the fixed sensing electrodes are fabricated on the same plane and interdigitally arranged. Push–pull electrostatic actuation method is employed to excite the torsional shutter. Simulation results proved that the torsional shutter has higher efficiency of charge induction. The optimization of structure parameters was conducted to improve its efficiency of charge induction further. A micromachining fabrication process was developed to fabricate the EFM. Experiments were conducted to characterize the EFM. A good linearity of 0.15% was achieved within an electrostatic field range of 0–50 kV/m, and the uncertainty was below 0.38% in the three roundtrip measurements. A high sensitivity of 4.82 mV/(kV/m) was achieved with the trans-resistance of 100 MΩ, which is improved by at least one order of magnitude compared with previously reported EFMs. The efficiency of charge induction for this microsensor reached 48.19 pA/(kV/m).
Highlights
The measurement of electrostatic field strength is of great importance for aeronautics and astronautics, high voltage direct current (HVDC) power system, meteorology and so on [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].For example, in the field of aeronautics and astronautics, the satellites cannot be launched unless the atmospheric electric field strength is below certain threshold, and many facts indicate that strong atmospheric electric field may cause launching failure
A high sensitivity electric field microsensor (EFM) based on torsional resonance is proposed and developed
A torsional shutter composed of shielding electrodes and torsional beams is adopted in the EFM
Summary
The measurement of electrostatic field strength is of great importance for aeronautics and astronautics, high voltage direct current (HVDC) power system, meteorology and so on [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Due to the fringe effect of the electric field, most components of the measured leads to low sensitivity of the EFMs. electric fieldat distribute onthe thesensitivity shielding of electrodes than thewith sensing electrodes, leads to. 2003, an EFM lateral vibrationwhich and coplanar low sensitivity of the electrodes was proposed by Riehl [13], wherein the fringe effect of the electric field on the sidewall increasing. Riehl [13], wherein the fringe effect of the electric field on the sidewall sensitivity, Yang developed an SOI-based electric field sensor with comb-shaped microelectrodes [15]. SOI-based electric field sensor with comb-shaped microelectrodes modulated the electric field on the sidewalls of the sensing electrodes. EFMs can be improved by meticulous of the measured electric field distributing on the top surface of the sensing electrodes was almost not design.
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