Résumé
The market of accelerometers is one of the MEMS field in development. We find accelerometers principally in automobile applications. The target of the presented work is the design and modelling of accelerometer build with a low-cost technology: the CMOS front-Side Bulk Micromachining (FSBM).<br />We have chosen two kinds of transduction that are compatible with the CMOS technology: the piezoresistive transduction and the thermal convection based transduction. A simple device has been proposed for the piezoresistive accelerometer, it allows vertical acceleration sensing. A model for those piezoresistive devices has been proposed and validated by FEM simulations and by experimental results from a fabricated prototype.<br />The thermal convection based transduction is used to sense lateral acceleration. The aim of the modelling is to obtain some simple rules that will help on designing that kind of sensors. The model is based on FEM simulations and on experimental results.<br />The preliminary study of a three-axis accelerometer is finally presented. Firstly a totally piezoresisistive based device has been evaluated. Then a second solution that combines the two types of transductions (thermal and piezoresistive) has been proposed.