Intrinsically accurate sensing with an optomechanical accelerometer

TL;DR

This paper introduces a microfabricated optomechanical accelerometer that achieves percent-level accuracy intrinsically, eliminating the need for external calibration by combining a mechanical model with high-sensitivity optical readout.

Contribution

It presents a novel accelerometer design that uses thermal noise modeling and optical frequency comb readout for SI-traceable, high-accuracy measurements without external calibration.

Findings

Achieved 2.1% accuracy over 0.1-15 kHz frequency range

Better than 0.2% accuracy for static acceleration

Demonstrated potential to replace external calibration methods

Abstract

We demonstrate a microfabricated optomechanical accelerometer that is capable of percent-level accuracy without external calibration. To achieve this capability, we use a mechanical model of the device behavior that can be characterized by the thermal noise response along with an optical frequency comb readout method that enables high sensitivity, high bandwidth, high dynamic range, and SI-traceable displacement measurements. The resulting intrinsic accuracy was evaluated over a wide frequency range by comparing to a primary vibration calibration system and local gravity. The average agreement was found to be 2.1 % for the calibration system between 0.1 kHz and 15 kHz and better than 0.2 % for the static acceleration. This capability has the potential to replace costly external calibrations and improve the accuracy of inertial guidance systems and remotely deployed accelerometers. Due to the fundamental nature of the intrinsic accuracy approach, it could be extended to other optomechanical transducers, including force and pressure sensors.