A Microchip Optomechanical Accelerometer

Patent Abstract

 

Technologies are generally described for operating and manufacturing optomechanical accelerometers. In some examples, an optomechanical accelerometer device is described that uses a cavity resonant displacement sensor based on a zipper photonic crystal nano-cavity to measure the displacement of an integrated test mass generated by acceleration applied to the chip. The cavity-resonant sensor may be fully integrated on-chip and exhibit an enhanced displacement resolution due to its strong optomechanical coupling. The accelerometer structure may be fabricated in a silicon nitride thin film and constitute a rectangular test mass flexibly suspended on high aspect ratio inorganic nitride nano-tethers under high tensile stress. By increasing the mechanical Q-factors through adjustment of tether width and tether length, the noise-equivalent acceleration (NEA) may be reduced, while maintaining a large operation bandwidth. The mechanical Q-factor may be improved with thinner (e.g., <1 micron) and longer tethers (e.g., 10-560 microns).

URV Reference Number: 2-11144-13013
Patent Information:
Category(s):
Optics
Nanotechnology
For Information, Contact:
Curtis Broadbent
Licensing Manager
University of Rochester
585.273.3250
curtis.broadbent@rochester.edu
Inventors:
Oskar Painter
Martin Winger
Qiang Lin
Alexander Krause
Tim Blasius
Keywords: