Measurements on a micromachined silicon gyroscope by feedback interferometry

Author

Annovazzi-Lodi, V. ; Merlo, S. ; Norgia, M.

Author_Institution

Dipartimento di Elettronica, Pavia Univ., Italy

Volume

6

Issue

1

fYear

2001

fDate

3/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

Feedback interferometry is a useful tool to characterize micromachined devices. We consider a silicon vibrating gyroscope, in which the angular rotation is transduced into the vibration amplitude of a small suspended mass. Measurements of the mass displacement at submicrometer resolution are reported on a 400×400 μm sensor, using an 800-nm 20-mW laser diode. The resonance curves of the device have been determined for different values of pressure and other parameters, which allows us to tune the resonance frequency and maximize the Q factor. Hysteresis and other nonlinear phenomena on specific samples also have been detected. The proposed method provides a direct inspection tool and represents a practical alternative to the standard electrical measurements

Keywords

displacement measurement; gyroscopes; inspection; light interferometry; measurement by laser beam; micromachining; microsensors; semiconductor device measurement; silicon; 20 mW; 400 mum; 800 nm; Q factor; Si; angular rotation; direct inspection tool; feedback interferometry; micromachined devices; micromachined silicon gyroscope; nonlinear phenomena; silicon vibrating gyroscope; vibration amplitude; Diode lasers; Displacement measurement; Feedback; Gyroscopes; Interferometry; Q factor; Resonance; Resonant frequency; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Mechatronics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1083-4435

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3516.914385

Filename

914385