A multi-fork z-axis quartz micromachined gyroscope

Sensors (Basel). 2013 Sep 17;13(9):12482-96. doi: 10.3390/s130912482.

Abstract

A novel multi-fork z-axis gyroscope is presented in this paper. Different from traditional quartz gyroscopes, the lateral electrodes of the sense beam can be arranged in simple patterns; as a result, the fabrication is simplified. High sensitivity is achieved by the multi-fork design. The working principles are introduced, while the finite element method (FEM) is used to simulate the modal and sensitivity. A quartz fork is fabricated, and a prototype is assembled. Impedance testing shows that the drive frequency and sense frequency are similar to the simulations, and the quality factor is approximately 10,000 in air. The scale factor is measured to be 18.134 mV/(°/s) and the nonlinearity is 0.40% in a full-scale input range of ±250 °/s.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acceleration*
  • Accelerometry / instrumentation*
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems / instrumentation*
  • Miniaturization
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Quartz
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Transducers*

Substances

  • Quartz