NEMS Accelerometer and Force Sensors Based on Suspended Graphene Membranes

This paper reported a miniaturized NEMS boss-membrane force and accelerometer sensor. The sensitive materials was double-layer graphene with a thickness of approximately 0.63 nm. The size of mass block remains at 19.2×19.2×30 μm
³
, which is prepared from silicon oxide wafers through dry etching, PECVD deposition, and other processes. The mass block is suspended on the lower surface of the graphene membrane through van der Waals force, and the piezoresistive effect of suspended graphene is studied when external force is applied to the mass block. Due to the fact that the mass block size of a single graphene sensor is at least two orders of magnitude smaller than that of traditional silicon sensors, the device has high sensitivity per unit volume by normalizing the mass block volume of the sensor. The manufacturing of graphene force and accelerometer sensors will contribute to the development and research of NEMS devices.