Vibration Sensor Technology

Vibration and structure-borne noise sensors are used in almost all industries today—from production engineering and medical technology to consumer electronics. They provide information about the condition and properties of machines, systems, and infrastructure, as well as the well-being of users in wearables and medical devices. This enables early detection of wear, malfunctions, or structural damage and the initiation of countermeasures. However, commercially available sensors are often limited in their frequency bandwidth, quality, sustainable manufacturing, and sensor-proximal interpretation of signal data.

Fraunhofer IPMS is developing a novel MEMS-based vibration sensor system based on its own patented NED (Nano-Electrostatic-Drive) technology platform. This approach uniquely combines an electrostatic nano-drive with a sophisticated wafer-level vacuum encapsulation to create, for the first time, miniaturized structure-borne sound sensors with extremely high linearity, wide bandwidth, and outstanding long-term stability. The high degree of miniaturization and linearity is only possible through the use of the entire silicon chip volume and a balanced design geometry.