0.04 degree-per-hour MEMS disk resonator gyroscope with high-quality factor (510 k) and long decaying time constant (74.9 s)

Abstract

The disk resonator gyroscope is an attractive candidate for high-performance MEMS gyroscopes. This gyroscope consists of a sensor and readout electronics, and the characteristics of the sensor directly determine the performance. For the sensor, a high-quality factor and long decaying time constant are the most important characteristics required to achieve high performance. We report a disk resonator gyroscope with a measured quality factor of 510 k and decaying time constant of 74.9 s, which is a record for MEMS silicon disk resonator gyroscopes, to the best of our knowledge. To improve the quality factor of the DRG, the quality factor improvement mechanism is first analyzed, and based on this mechanism two stiffness-mass decoupled methods, i.e., spoke length distribution optimization and lumped mass configuration design, are proposed and demonstrated. A disk resonator gyroscope prototype is fabricated based on these design strategies, and the sensor itself shows an angle random walk as low as 0.001°/√h, demonstrating true potential to achieve navigation-grade performance. The gyroscope with readout electronics shows an angle random walk of 0.01°/√h and a bias instability of 0.04°/h at room temperature without compensation, revealing that the performance of the gyroscope is severely limited by the readout electronics, which should be further improved. We expect that the quality factor improvement methods can be used in the design of other MEMS gyroscopes and that the newly designed DRG can be further improved to achieve navigation-grade performances for high-end industrial, transportation, aerospace, and automotive applications.

Optically read Coriolis vibratory gyroscope based on a silicon tuning fork

“…In the present study, the CVG with an optical readout was found to exhibit a bias instability of <0.5° h −1 , which is a factor of ~50 lower than the performance of 0.01° h −1 for state-of-the-art gyroscopes. For example, a MEMS disk resonator gyroscope 40 was recently shown to have a bias instability of <0.04° h −1 with a long decay time of 74.9 s. This impressive performance for a MEMS gyroscope requires complex mechanical structures with a nontrivial fabrication process. The fabrication of the CVG structures we report in this work are relatively simple, and since the sensitivity of the optical readout can be substantially improved, we expect that in future studies, the performance of the CVG described here will also be improved.…”

Robot-aided fN∙m torque sensing within an ultrawide dynamic range

“…For instance, peculiar phenomena, including grain boundary sliding 9 and crystal twinning 10 , can be directly observed under torsion. In addition, various devices, including micromirrors 11 , MEMS gyroscopes 12 , microturbines 13 , and biomedical devices 14 , are subjected to torsional stress during operation, making torsional analysis an essential method for material evaluation.…”

Study of the Influence of Phase Noise on the MEMS Disk Resonator Gyroscope Interface Circuit

“…As a new generation gyroscope, the micro-electro-mechanical system disk resonator gyroscope (MEMS DRG) is an attractive candidate for high-performance MEMS gyroscopes due to its near navigational grade precision and small volume [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. As a solid wave gyroscope (SWG), MEMS DRG inherently possesses a high Q factor and mode match mechanism, which maintain its low mechanical-thermal noise and high mechanical sensitivity [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”