Intrinsically accurate sensing with an optomechanical accelerometer

Published

May 18, 2022

Author(s)

Benjamin Reschovsky, David Long, Feng Zhou, Yiliang Bao, Richard A. Allen, Jason J. Gorman, Thomas W. LeBrun

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.

Citation

Optics Express

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.457499

Local Download

Keywords

optomechanics, accelerometry, optical frequency combs, sensors, optical cavity

Citation

Reschovsky, B. , Long, D. , Zhou, F. , Bao, Y. , Allen, R. , Gorman, J. and LeBrun, T. (2022), Intrinsically accurate sensing with an optomechanical accelerometer, Optics Express, [online], https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.457499, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=933111 (Accessed November 21, 2024)