Accelerometer Design Based On Attenuated Total Reflection

Abstract

It is shown that the effect of attenuated total internal reflection (ATR) might be used for accelerometer design. Although the ATR -accelerometer will never outdate the conventional piezoelectrical accelerometer, it possesses some obvious advantages: Its performance is not limited by a Curie -Temperature, and since it is a purely optical device, it can be used in electrically noisy surroundings.Preliminary measurements on a prototype design are presented, and the performance with respect to optical, mechanical and thermal properties including noise -limitations are discussed.

<title>Acceleration detection using surface-plasmon miscroscopy</title>

“…The sample's motion results in a deformation of the coupling layer and a bias of the liquids' interface to the horizon. The bias angle a is related to the magnitude of acceleration I a f by the following formula: tana-, (1) g where g stands for the free fall acceleration.…”

“…The first attempt to construct an opto-mechanical surface-plasmon accelerometer was reported in 1 989 [1]. The sensor employed the Otto configuration of the attenuated total reflection (ATR) method for surface plasmons (SP) excitation.…”