This letter proposes a novel design of a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) device featuring a metal grating vibratory microstructure driven by electrostatic force to sense the spatial electric field. Due to the advantages in slide-film damping and large vibration amplitude,such a device makes atmospheric packaging a low-cost option for practical manufacture. In this letter, we present the operating principles and specifications, the design structure, as well as the finite element simulation. Computational analysis shows that our design obtains good results in device parameters setting, while its simplicity and low-cost features make it an attractive solution for applications.
Deng KaiXia ShanhongGong ChaoChen ShaofengBai Qiang
The design and optimization of two types of novel miniature vibrating Electric Field Sensors (EFSs) based on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology are presented.They have different structures and vibrating modes. The volume is much smaller than other types of charge-induced EFSs such as field-mills. As miniaturizing, the induced signal is reduced enormously and a high sensitive circuit is needed to detect it. Elaborately designed electrodes can increase the amplitude of the output current, making the detecting circuit simplified and improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Computer simulations for different structural parameters of the EFSs and vibrating methods have been carried out by Finite Element Method (FEM). It is proved that the new structures are realizable and the output signals are detectable.
