Three-Axis Seismometer

Wide coverage and accurate detection of nuclear detonations are critical to prevent proliferation. Such applications require extremely high sensitivities on the order of approximately 0.5 ngsqrtHz on all three axes of acceleration, as well as robustness and cost effectiveness. Current sensors are too large or insensitive to be widely distributed in a sensor network. Agiltron, an innovator of microelectromechanical systems MEMS devices, has developed a new design of the Micro-Mechanical Tunneling Transducer based on the physics of atomic tunneling currents. The proposed seismometer device is extremely sensitive, will measure simultaneously in three axes, and has a very low noise floor and a very small form factor. This micromachined device is also amenable to low-cost manufacture in large quantities, once the processes have been established. Successful implementation of the proposed vibration or acceleration sensor will also be useful in other geophysical applications, such as updating Global Seismographic Network, as well as in robotics, medical, and aerospace industries.