Gyroscope And Fabrication Process
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorsKhalil NAJAFI, Jae Yoong CHO, Ali DARVISHIAN, Guohong HE, Behrouz SHIARI, Tal NAGOURNEY
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Abstract
Gyroscopes are sensors that measure angular rate and angular orientation. A three-dimensional fused silica micro shell rate-integrating gyroscope is presented. One aspect of the gyroscope includes the use of optical sensors to detect motion of the resonator. The proposed gyroscope is attractive because it achieves several magnitudes higher accuracy as well as high vibration and shock insensitivity from a novel resonator design as well as other unique manufacturing processes.
Claims15
A gyroscope, comprising:
- a support substrate;
- an inner shell attached to the substrate and defining an inner cavity between an interior surface of the inner shell and a top surface of the support substrate;
- a resonator disposed in the inner cavity and mounted on the top surface of the support substrate;
- two or more driving electrodes formed on the support substrate and arranged around periphery of the resonator, wherein the two or more driving electrodes are configured to drive the resonator electrostatically;
- and
- a plurality of optical sensors integrated into the support structure, wherein each optical sensor is configured to detect motion of the resonator.
A method for fabricating a mechanical resonator, comprising:
- forming one or more grooves into a surface of a substantially planar reflow material;
- disposing the planar reflow material on a mold, where the mold has a recess formed therein and the planar reflow material encloses the recess, wherein the mold further includes a protrusion projecting upward from a bottom surface of the recess and positioned at center of the bottom surface of the recess;
- heating the reflow material while the reflow material is disposed on the mold;
- and
- reflowing the reflow material towards the bottom surface of the recess of the mold by creating a pressure gradient across the reflow material, thereby forming a resonator microstructure.
A method for fabricating a mechanical resonator, comprising:
- forming an annulus on a surface of a substantially planar reflow material, where the annulus has a thickness larger than remainder of the planar reflow material;
- disposing the planar reflow material on a mold, where the mold has a recess formed therein and the planar reflow material encloses the recess, wherein the mold further includes a protrusion projecting upward from a bottom surface of the recess and positioned at center of the bottom surface of the recess;
- heating the reflow material while the reflow material is disposed on the mold;
- and
- reflowing the reflow material towards the bottom surface of the recess of the mold by creating a pressure gradient across the reflow material, thereby forming a resonator microstructure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.