Coaxial gyro accelerometer in a semiconductor substrate
US8873029B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 24, 2012 |
| Grant date | Oct 28, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 24, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01P15/123
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A coaxial gyro accelerometer device in a semiconductor substrate for simultaneously sensing coaxial linear and rotational forces. An exemplary device includes a resonating cantilever beam within a substrate and a package having a resonating cavity. The package supports the substrate while allowing the beam to resonate. The substrate also includes a piezoresistor driver, a piezoresistor sensor, and a semiconductor interferometric optical gyro. The piezoresistor driver and sensor are incorporated within the beam. The driver electrothermally resonates the beam. The sensor piezoresistively senses a signal that relates to an acceleration force out-of-plane of the beam. A waveguide of the semiconductor interferometric optical gyro is incorporated in the substrate around the beam. The gyro senses rotational motion about the axis that is the same as the acceleration vector (out-of-plane of the beam). The gyro also includes a laser source and a light detector. The beam is formed contiguously from the semiconductor substrate.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.