Abstract
This paper presents microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based electrochemical seismometers with two pairs of electrodes integrated on one chip. Both theoretical analysis and numerical simulations were conducted to reveal the working principle of the proposed electrochemical seismometers, finding that flow holes distributed on cathodes rather than anodes can produce significantly higher sensitivities. The proposed electrochemical seismometers were fabricated based on conventional micromachined processes with high fabrication repeatability. Sensitivity measurements of the proposed seismometers and their commercial counterpart of CME6011 were conducted, indicating the sensitivities of the proposed seismometer with flow holes on cathodes were two orders higher than the counterpart with flow holes on anodes and one order higher than CME6011 at dominant frequencies. Measurements of random ground motions based on the proposed seismometer with flow holes on cathodes and CME6011 were conducted, producing comparable noise levels without observable ground motions and high correlations in response to random events of ground motions. These results validated the functionality of the proposed electrochemical seismometers, which may contribute to seismic monitoring in the near future.
Highlights
A seismometer is a core element in seismic monitoring and geological prospecting [1,2,3]
MEMS based sensing units of electrochemical seismometers were developed by both Chen et al and Huang et al [15,16]
To address the aforementioned problems, this paper presents new micromachined electrochemical seismometers with two pairs of sensing electrodes integrated on a single chip
Summary
A seismometer is a core element in seismic monitoring and geological prospecting [1,2,3]. Sensors 2019, 19, 3953 cost [12,13,14] To address these issues, MEMS based sensing units of electrochemical seismometers were developed by both Chen et al and Huang et al [15,16]. Deng et al from our group developed a sensing unit with an anode and a cathode integrated on a single chip with much larger electrode areas [17]. A new method based on parylene for manufacturing sensing units without manual alignments was put forward, in which the device sensitivity was improved by decreasing the distances between electrodes to several micrometers by our group [18]. To address the aforementioned problems, this paper presents new micromachined electrochemical seismometers with two pairs of sensing electrodes integrated on a single chip. In comparison to previously reported counterparts, the seismometers developed in this study are featured with high fabrication repeatability and high sensitivity because of enlarged electrode areas
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