Proof of Concept of a Graphene-Based Resonant Accelerometer

Acceleration measurements are fundamental in applications such as consumer electronics, navigation, automotive safety and Internet of things (IoT). In comparison with capacitive or piezoresistive MEMS accelerometers, resonant graphene accelerometers have the potential to be smaller. If demonstrated, they could be a step forward in miniaturization and could enable emerging applications.In this paper, accelerations are measured with a NEMS resonant accelerometer based on graphene. The devices are made of a suspended proof mass attached by graphene ribbons [1]-[3]. For device evaluation, they are attached to a shaker to produce accelerations. Using a Laser Doppler Vibrometer, the changes in the resonant frequency of the devices caused by the acceleration are quantified. The results show a linear dependence between the shifts in resonance of the devices and input accelerations at 160 Hz.