A new vertical suspension inertial grade gyroscope

This paper presents two novel architectures for realizing high performance bulk micromachined gyroscopes based on Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology. The designs have a simulated Brownian noise floor of to 0.014 °/hr, a sensitivity 115 mV/°/s, and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 1,437 mV/°/hr. These performance characteristics were achieved at resonance frequencies of few kilohertz. The backbone idea behind the proposed gyroscopes was the utilization of an out-of-plane suspension configuration comprising vertical beams, in which the latter can suspend a seismic proof mass of 1.6 mg. Measurements of the fabricated gyroscopes prove, for the first time, the concept of building MEMS devices using a vertical suspension arms.