High-sensitivity fiber-optic accelerometer.

We describe a novel accelerometer in which the sensing element is a weighted diaphragm. The displacement of the diaphragm produced by acceleration is measured using a miniature hemispherical air-spaced Fabry-Perot interferometer, of which one mirror is mounted on the diaphragm. The interferometer is illuminated by a diode laser and addressed through a monomode optical fiber.