Tunneling-based rate gyros with simple drive and sense axis coupling
First Claim
1. A tunneling rotation sensor, comprising:
- a substrate;
a cantilever having a portion extending from said substrate and a cantilever arm positioned away from said substrate, said cantilever arm comprising a first section and a second section,said cantilever arm further comprising flexible material and being constructed such that;
a) said first section is wider than said second section and said first section is closer to said portion extending from said substrate than said second section;
b) said cantilever arm is capable of deflection toward and away from said substrate; and
c) said first section is more restricted than said second section from making lateral movements, anda tunneling electrode on said substrate beneath said first section such that a tunneling gap through which a current can flow is formed between said tunneling electrode and said first section.
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Abstract
Various structures for cantilever beam tunneling rate gyro devices formed on a single substrate are disclosed. A cantilever electrode having a plurality of portions extending from the substrate with one end of the cantilever is suspended above the substrate at a distance from a tunneling electrode so that a tunneling current flows through the cantilever and tunneling electrode in response to an applied bias voltage. The cantilever and tunneling electrodes form a circuit that produces an output signal. A force applied to the sensor urges the cantilever electrode to deflect relative to the tunneling electrode to modulate the output signal. The output signal is a control voltage that is applied between the cantilever electrode and a control electrode to maintain a constant tunneling current. In the preferred embodiment, two cantilever portions extend from the wafer surface forming a Y-shape. In a further embodiment, a strap is fabricated on the cantilever electrode. In an alternate embodiment, a ridge emitter is formed such that it remains under the cantilever electrode during lateral motion of the cantilever. In an alternate embodiment, a cantilever having a varying width is fabricated.
22 Citations
4 Claims
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1. A tunneling rotation sensor, comprising:
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a substrate; a cantilever having a portion extending from said substrate and a cantilever arm positioned away from said substrate, said cantilever arm comprising a first section and a second section, said cantilever arm further comprising flexible material and being constructed such that; a) said first section is wider than said second section and said first section is closer to said portion extending from said substrate than said second section; b) said cantilever arm is capable of deflection toward and away from said substrate; and c) said first section is more restricted than said second section from making lateral movements, and a tunneling electrode on said substrate beneath said first section such that a tunneling gap through which a current can flow is formed between said tunneling electrode and said first section. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification