ENVIRONMENTALLY ROBUST DISC RESONATOR GYROSCOPE
First Claim
1. A resonator gyroscope, comprising:
- a resonator having electrostatic electrodes having electrode sidewalls that interact with resonator sidewalls of the disc resonator such that vibration modes of the resonator are driven and sensed with the electrostatic electrodes to measure motion of the disc resonator;
an isolation layer supporting the resonator and the electrostatic electrodes in a central region, the isolation layer comprising a plurality of isolation beams each coupled to the central region at a first end and a periphery of the isolation layer at a second end; and
a carrier layer supporting the periphery of the isolation layer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Micromachined disc resonator gyroscopes (DRGs) are disclosed designed to be virtually immune to external temperature and stress effects. The DRG is a vibratory gyroscope that measures angular rate which is designed to have reduced sensitivity to external thermal and mechanical stress. The DRG features an integrated isolator that may be fabricated on the same wafer as the electrode wafer forming a plurality of integrated isolator beams. In addition, the DRG may include a wafer level hermetical vacuum seal, flip chip ball grid array (BGA), and vertical electrical feedthrough to improve reliability and to reduce manufacturing cost. An additional carrier layer may be used with shock stops, vertical electrical feedthrough, and the flip chip BGA. A pyrex or quartz cap with embedded getter and shock stops can be employed.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A resonator gyroscope, comprising:
-
a resonator having electrostatic electrodes having electrode sidewalls that interact with resonator sidewalls of the disc resonator such that vibration modes of the resonator are driven and sensed with the electrostatic electrodes to measure motion of the disc resonator; an isolation layer supporting the resonator and the electrostatic electrodes in a central region, the isolation layer comprising a plurality of isolation beams each coupled to the central region at a first end and a periphery of the isolation layer at a second end; and a carrier layer supporting the periphery of the isolation layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of manufacturing a resonator gyroscope, comprising:
-
etching an isolation layer to form a plurality of isolation beams each coupled to the central region at a first end and a periphery of the isolation layer at a second end; selectively bonding the isolation layer to support a resonator layer and electrostatic electrodes in a central region of the isolation layer; etching a resonator from the resonator layer with the electrostatic electrodes having electrode sidewalls that interact with resonator sidewalls of the disc resonator such that vibration modes of the resonator are driven and sensed with the electrostatic electrodes to measure motion of the resonator; and bonding a carrier layer to support the periphery of the isolation layer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A resonator gyroscope, comprising:
-
a resonator means for measuring motion using vibration modes; an isolation layer means for supporting the resonator means in a central region, the isolation layer means comprising a plurality of isolation beams each coupled to the central region at a first end and a periphery of the isolation layer at a second end; and a carrier layer means for supporting the periphery of the isolation layer means.
-
Specification