Patent ID: 8056415

Claim:
A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor comprising: a substrate; a movable element positioned in spaced apart relationship above a surface of said substrate, said movable element having multiple openings extending through said movable element; multiple suspension anchors formed on said surface of said substrate; multiple compliant members interconnecting said movable element with said multiple suspension anchors, said multiple compliant members enabling motion of said movable element in a first direction and a second direction, said second direction being orthogonal to said first direction; first fixed fingers arranged in substantially parallel alignment, pairs of said first fixed fingers residing in a portion of said multiple openings, said first fixed fingers being adapted to detect said motion of said movable element in said first direction; first fixed finger anchors formed on said surface of said substrate, at least one of said first fixed finger anchors being coupled to each of said first fixed fingers to attach said first fixed fingers to said substrate, a location of said first fixed finger anchors in said second direction defining a first anchor region, and said multiple suspension anchors being positioned within said first anchor region; second fixed fingers arranged in substantially parallel alignment, said second fixed fingers being arranged orthogonal to said first fixed fingers, pairs of said second fixed fingers residing in a second portion of said multiple openings of said movable element, said second fixed fingers being adapted to detect said motion of said movable element in said second direction; and second fixed finger anchors formed on said surface of said substrate, at least one of said second fixed finger anchors being coupled to each of said second fixed fingers to fix said second fixed fingers to said substrate, a second location of said second fixed finger anchors in said first direction defining a second anchor region, said first and second anchor regions overlapping to form an overlapping anchor region, one of said multiple suspension anchors being positioned within said overlapping anchor region.