Micro cantilever based optical gravimeter

Geophysical phenomena like volcanic eruptions, tectonic plate movements, and earthquakes directly influence the gravitational pull in the region of occurrence. Measurement of anomalies in the gravitational pull has been a useful technique in analyzing such activities quantitatively. Gravitational variations also carry indications of the presence of the earth’s minerals and other such useful resources. In this paper, a novel on-chip micro-cantilever-based optical gravimeter has been proposed for the precise measurement of gravitational changes. Simulations comprising both three-dimensional full-vector finite element and finite difference time domain methods have been carried out for analyses, demon-strating an extensive reading range of 6000 mGal with a resolution of 1.17 μGal and sensitivity of 1 μGal/√Hz at 1 Hz.