DISC RESONATOR GYROSCOPES
First Claim
1. A sensor, comprising:
- a disc resonator having a central support;
a baseplate wafer for supporting the disc resonator at the central support; and
a cap wafer covering the disc resonator;
wherein the baseplate wafer and the cap wafer comprise an enclosure of the disc resonator and the cap wafer comprises a single wafer having a cavity forming a wall surrounding the disc resonator and the wall is bonded to the baseplate wafer to enclose the disc resonator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to apparatuses and methods of making a micromachined resonator gyroscope, e.g. a disc resonator gyro (DRG), including one or more of the following novel features. Embodiments of the invention may comprise a triple-wafer stack gyroscope with an all fused quartz (or all silicon) construction for an electrical baseplate, resonator and vacuum cap. This can yield superior thermal stability over prior art designs. A typical resonator embodiment may include a centrally anchored disc with high aspect-ratio in-plane electrostatic drive and sense electrodes to create large capacitance. A silicon sacrificial layer may be employed for attaching a quartz resonator wafer to a quartz handle wafer for high aspect-ratio etching. In addition, embodiments of the invention may comprise a low thermal stress, wafer-level vacuum packaged gyroscope with on-chip getter. An ultra-thin conductive layer deposited on the quartz resonator may also be utilized for high Q.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A sensor, comprising:
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a disc resonator having a central support;
a baseplate wafer for supporting the disc resonator at the central support; and
a cap wafer covering the disc resonator;
wherein the baseplate wafer and the cap wafer comprise an enclosure of the disc resonator and the cap wafer comprises a single wafer having a cavity forming a wall surrounding the disc resonator and the wall is bonded to the baseplate wafer to enclose the disc resonator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of producing a sensor, comprising the steps of:
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producing a disc resonator having a central support;
producing a baseplate wafer for supporting the disc resonator at the central support;
producing a cap wafer covering the disc resonator, the cap wafer comprising a single wafer having a cavity forming a wall surrounding the disc resonator; and
bonding the wall to the baseplate wafer to enclose the disc resonator where the baseplate wafer and the cap wafer comprise an enclosure of the disc resonator. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A sensor, comprising:
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a disc resonator means for sensing motion having a central support;
a baseplate wafer means for supporting the disc resonator at the central support; and
a cap wafer means for covering the disc resonator;
wherein the baseplate wafer means and the cap wafer means comprise an enclosure of the disc resonator means and the cap wafer means comprises a single wafer having a cavity forming a wall surrounding the disc resonator means and the wall is bonded to the baseplate wafer means to enclose the disc resonator means.
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Specification