A digital output piezoelectric accelerometer using CMOS-compatible AlN thin film

We have developed the digital output piezoelectric accelerometer using CMOS-compatible AlN thin films. The AlN thin films were deposited by sputtering. The multilayer of Pt/Ti/AlN/Pt/Ti/SiO 2 has been fabricated into the piezoelectric accelerometers, where the patterned AlN thin films are arrayed in parallel and electrically connected in series. The sensitivity of the fabricated accelerometer reaches 184 mV/g, which is about 6 times larger than that of the accelerometer using Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 thin films. The results indicate that AlN thin film is more promising compared to PZT thin films to realize the digital output piezoelectric accelerometer.