PSEUDO-EXTENSIONAL MODE MEMS RING GYROSCOPE

Abstract

An extensional mode electrostatic microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscope is described. The MEMS gyroscope operates in an extensional mode. The MEMS gyroscope comprises a vibrating ring structure that is electrostatically excited in the extensional mode.

Claims

1. A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscope comprising: a vibrating ring structure; at least one pair of drive electrodes configured to electrostatically apply a voltage to the vibrating ring structure to excite the vibrating ring structure in an extensional mode, wherein the at least one pair of drive electrodes comprises a first drive electrode and second drive electrode positioned on opposite sides of the vibrating ring structure; and a first support structure configured to suspend the vibrating ring structure, the first support structure positioned on an inner side of the vibrating ring structure.

2. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the vibrating ring structure comprises a composite mesh ring.

3. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the vibrating ring structure comprises a solid ring having an annulus shape.

4. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the at least pair of drive electrodes is configured to electrostatically excite an in-plane extensional mode of the vibrating ring structure.

5. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 4, further comprising: at least one pair of sense electrodes positioned on opposite sides of the vibrating ring structure and configured to electrostatically sense only the in-plane extensional mode of the vibrating ring structure.

6. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the vibrating ring structure comprises a composite mesh ring including a first plurality of concentric rings arranged with a first spacing and the first support structure comprises a second plurality of concentric rings arranged with a second spacing, wherein the second spacing is larger than the first spacing.

7. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the vibrating ring structure comprises a composite mesh ring including a plurality of concentric rings, and the MEMS gyroscope further comprises: a second support structure configured to suspend the vibrating ring structure, the second support structure positioned on an outer side of the vibrating ring structure, wherein the first and second support structures are configured to allow movement of substantially equal amplitude of at least an innermost ring and an outermost ring of the composite mesh ring when excited in the extensional mode.

8. The MEMS gyroscope of claim 1, wherein the first support structure is configured to suspend the vibrating ring structure via an anchor.

9. An extensional mode gyroscope comprising: a composite mesh ring comprising a first plurality of flexural portions; at least one pair of drive electrodes configured to electrostatically apply a voltage to the composite mesh ring to excite the composite mesh ring in an extensional mode; and one or more support structures configured to allow movement of substantially equal amplitude of two or more flexural portions of the first plurality of flexural portions of the composite mesh ring when excited in the extensional mode.

10. The extensional mode gyroscope of claim 9, further comprising: at least one pair of sense electrodes configured to electrostatically sense only the extensional mode.

11. The extensional mode gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the one or more support structures comprises a first support structure positioned on an inner side of the composite mesh ring.

12. The extensional mode gyroscope of the claim 11, wherein the one or more structures comprises a second support structure positioned on an outer side of the composite mesh ring.

13. The extensional mode gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the first plurality of flexural portions are arranged with a first spacing, and each of the one or more support structures comprises a second plurality of flexural portions arranged with a second spacing, wherein the second spacing is larger than the first spacing.

14. The extensional mode gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the at least one pair of drive electrodes is positioned on opposite sides of the composite mesh ring.

15. The extensional mode gyroscope of claim 14, wherein the one or more support structures comprises first and second support structures, the first support structure being positioned on an inner side of a first electrode of the at least one pair of drive electrodes and the second support structure being positioned on an outer side of a second electrode of the at least one pair of electrodes.

16. The extensional mode gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the one or more support structures is configured to suspend the composite mesh ring via one or more anchors.

17. A method of operating a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscope having a composite mesh ring comprising a closed contour inner edge and a closed contour outer edge, at least one pair of drive electrodes, and at least one pair of sense electrodes, the method comprising: electrostatically exciting, via the at least one pair of drive electrodes, the composite mesh ring in an in-plane extensional mode, wherein the closed contour inner edge and the closed contour outer edge of the composite mesh ring move with substantially equal amplitude upon excitation of the composite mesh ring in the in-plane extensional mode; and electrostatically sensing, via the at least one pair of sense electrodes, one or more signals generated by the composite mesh ring in response to the composite mesh ring being excited in the in-plane extensional mode.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein exciting the composite mesh ring in the in-plane extensional mode comprises: exciting the composite mesh ring in an in-plane extensional mode that is within 100 kHz.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a width of the composite mesh ring changes across a circumference of the composite mesh ring in response to the composite mesh ring being excited in the in-plane extensional mode.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein exciting the composite mesh ring in the in-plane extensional mode comprises: exciting the composite mesh ring in an in-plane extensional mode that has an angular gain greater than or equal to 0.78.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] Various aspects and embodiments of the application will be described with reference to the following figures. It should be appreciated that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Items appearing in multiple figures are indicated by the same reference number in all the figures in which they appear.

[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an example extensional mode of vibration of a gyroscope where ring width varies across its circumference according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0010] FIG. 2A illustrates a wineglass mode of a gyroscope where angular accelerations are not rejected according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0011] FIG. 2B illustrates rejection of angular accelerations in an extensional mode gyroscope according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0012] FIG. 3A illustrates an example layout of a MEMS ring gyroscope showing a composite mesh ring vibrating structure according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0013] FIG. 3B illustrates an example layout of the MEMS ring gyroscope of FIG. 3A further showing placement of electrodes that are configured to electrostatically drive and electrostatically sense an extensional mode of the composite mesh ring according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of the composite mesh ring vibrating structure of FIG. 3B according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0015] FIG. 5A illustrates an example arrangement of drive and sense electrodes in the MEMS ring gyroscope of FIG. 3A according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0016] FIG. 5B illustrates an alternative example arrangement of drive and sense electrodes in the MEMS ring gyroscope of FIG. 3A according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0017] FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate degenerate eigenmodes of the composite mesh ring vibrating structure of FIG. 3A in an extensional mode according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0018] FIG. 7A illustrates modal displacements and vibration energy for a wineglass mode according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0019] FIG. 7B illustrates modal displacements and vibration energy for an extensional mode according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0020] FIG. 8 illustrates a frequency sweep of vibratory modes according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 9 illustrates a log linear plot of ring down showing Q factors for extensional modes according to a non-limiting embodiment.

[0022] FIG. 10 illustrates an automobile which may include a MEMS ring gyroscope of the types described herein, according to a non-limiting embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Aspects of the present application provide an extensional mode electrostatic MEMS gyroscope. The MEMS gyroscope operates in an extensional mode without operating in a wineglass mode. The MEMS gyroscope may include a vibrating ring structure that is electrostatically excited and sensed in an in-plane extensional mode. In an non-limiting embodiment, the vibrating ring structure may include a composite mesh ring proof mass. In another non-limiting embodiment, the vibrating ring structure may include a solid ring proof mass having an annulus shape.

[0024] Conventional ring gyroscopes typically utilize wineglass vibratory modes. These modes are classified by the number of nodesthe points of zero displacementwith a common approach to operate the ring gyroscope in a fundamental, n=2 mode. Some higher node modes (n=3, 4) exhibit tolerance to fabrication imperfections but lower angular gain (Bryan's factor K, 0<K1), and hence degradation in noise performance. Applicant has appreciated this is, however, only true for the modes where the in-plane ring width stays constant during vibration (e.g., a wineglass mode). On the other hand, extensional modes of vibration are higher order modes where a ring width varies (i.e., expands and contracts) across its circumference. As shown in FIG. 1, the ring width varies such that width w2 is larger than width w1. Extensional modes may have n=2, 3, 4 variants. Aspects of the present application provide operation of the MEMS gyroscope in a higher order mode without compromising the angular gain. In some embodiments, the MEMS gyroscope including a ring structure 110 is operated in an extensional mode with a similar or substantially same angular gain as a conventional ring gyroscope of substantially the same size/footprint operating in a wineglass mode. In some embodiments, the mode of operation of the MEMS gyroscope may be selected by changing a frequency of excitation.

[0025] Conventional MEMS and BAW gyroscopes with electrostatic transduction suffer from the impact of changes in electrostatic sensing gap distances introduced from external stresses such as thermal gradients, external shocks, mechanical stress and torque. Changes in gap spacing amount to changes in sensitivity (scale factor) and eventually zero-rate offset for these sensors making them vulnerable to external vibrations which have a negative impact in navigation applications. Aspects of the present application utilize an extensional mode of vibration with inherent vibration rejection properties while preserving a SWaP+C (size, weight, power, and cost) metric associated with electrostatically transduced MEMS gyroscopes. For example, the extensional mode allows for local rejection of linear accelerations as well as angular accelerations 210 (as shown by forces 220 in FIG. 2B) as compared to the fundamental wineglass n=2 mode that rejects linear accelerations but not angular accelerations 210 (as shown by forces 230 in FIG. 2A) by matching electrodes across the diameter of the ring.

[0026] In some embodiments, the MEMS gyroscope may include a vibrating ring structure, at least one pair of drive electrodes, and at least one pair of sense electrodes. The at least one pair of drive electrodes and at least one pair of sense electrodes may be positioned on opposite sides of the vibrating ring structure without directly connecting the vibrating ring structure. In other words, the drive and sense electrodes may be placed such that there is a gap between the electrodes and the vibrating ring structure so as to provide electrostatic operation.

[0027] In some embodiments, the drive electrodes electrostatically excite an in-plane extensional mode of the vibrating ring structure and the sense electrodes electrostatically sense only the in-plane extensional mode of the vibrating ring structure. In some implementations, one drive electrode of the at least one pair of drive electrodes is electrically connected to another drive electrode of the at least one pair of drive electrodes. Similarly, one sense electrode of the at least one pair of drive electrodes is electrically connected to another sense electrode of the at least one pair of sense electrodes.

[0028] In a non-limiting embodiment, the vibrating ring structure comprises a solid ring proof mass that is excited in an extensional mode. Electrodes (e.g., the drive and sense electrodes) can be positioned to drive the solid ring in the extensional mode and sense only the extensional mode of the solid ring.

[0029] FIG. 3A illustrates an example layout 300 of a MEMS ring gyroscope showing a composite mesh ring vibrating structure. In a non-limiting embodiment, the vibrating ring structure comprises a composite mesh ring 310 that is excited in an extensional mode. In some embodiments, the composite mesh ring 310 may include a plurality of flexural portions 315 defining a closed contour inner edge 340 and a closed contour outer edge 350. In a non-limiting embodiment, the plurality of flexural portions 315 may include a plurality of concentric rings. In a non-limiting embodiment, the composite mesh ring 310 includes a plurality of closely-spaced rings that are free-floating (i.e., individual rings move equally when excited) such that vibrational energy is concentrated in the composite mesh ring 310. In another non-limiting embodiment, the composite mesh ring 310 may comprise a connected ring structure including a number of flexural members or elements connecting a number of concentric rings. The composite mesh ring 310 described herein may have a lower resonant frequency as compared to conventional ring structures. In a non-limiting embodiment, for an n=2 extensional mode, the composite mesh ring 310 may include 40 individual rings connected to each other by 8 flexural members/elements (e.g., studs 410 shown in FIG. 4) with 22.5 degree offset in every other ring to lower the resonant frequency and increase Q-factor due to thermoelastic damping. It will be appreciated that for higher (e.g., n=3, 4, or higher) order modes, composite mesh rings with different number of rings and studs with different degree offsets may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3A, the MEMS ring gyroscope may include one or more support structures 320 that are configured to suspend the composite mesh ring 310 relative to a substrate (not shown) via one or more anchors 330. In a non-limiting embodiment, a first support structure 320a of the one or more support structures 320 may be positioned on an inner side of the composite mesh ring 310. In a non-limiting embodiment, a second support structure 320b of the one or more support structures 320 may be positioned on an outer side of the composite mesh ring 310. In a non-limiting embodiment, the one or more anchors 330 includes an inner anchor positioned on an inner side of the first support structure 320a. In another non-limiting embodiment, the one or more anchors 330 includes an outer anchor positioned in an outer side of the second support structure 320b. In yet another non-limiting embodiment, the one or more anchors 330 includes the inner anchor and the outer anchor.

[0031] FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view 400 of a portion of the composite mesh ring 310. As shown in FIG. 4, the concentric rings of the composite mesh ring 310 are arranged with a first spacing 402 between sections of the rings. In some embodiments, each of the one or more support structures 320 includes a plurality of flexural portions (e.g., rings) 415 arranged with a second spacing 420, as shown in FIG. 4. In a non-limiting embodiment, the second spacing 420 associated with the support structures 320 is larger than the first spacing 402 associated with the composite mesh ring 310. In a non-limiting embodiment, the second spacing may be 5 times larger than the first spacing, or between 3 and 10 times larger, as non-limiting examples. The larger spacing provides for a flexible suspension structure for the composite mesh ring 310, thereby allowing movement of substantially equal amplitude of the closed contour inner edge 340 and the closed contour outer edge 350 of the composite mesh ring 310. In a non-limiting embodiment, support structures 320 on either side of the composite mesh ring allow movement of substantially equal amplitude of at least an innermost ring and an outermost ring of composite mesh ring 310. Applicant has appreciated that while vibrational energy in conventional devices operating in a wineglass mode is concentrated either at the outermost ring or the innermost ring depending on anchor location, the vibrational energy of the extensional mode device described herein is concentrated substantially equally at the inner and outer sides of the composite mesh ring 310, allowing for localized differential transduction when electrodes are placed on opposite sides of the composite mesh ring 310. The support structures 320 ensure that the vibrational energy is concentrated inside the ring and away from the anchors thus decoupling vibratory motion from a substrate and improving Q-factor due to anchor losses. In embodiments where both inner and outer anchors are provided, the anchors stiffen the translational modes which are sensitive to external vibrations thereby reducing susceptibility to shock/G-sensitivity.

[0032] Various geometric parameters for a non-limiting embodiment of a composite mesh ring are shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Composite Ring Parameters Device diameter (mm) 1.78 Device layer thickness (m) 40 Capacitive gaps (m) 1.5 Individual ring width (m) 5 Number of individual rings 40

[0033] FIG. 3B illustrates an example layout of the MEMS ring gyroscope of FIG. 3A further showing placement of electrodes 360 that are configured to electrostatically drive and electrostatically sense an extensional mode of the composite mesh ring 310. Electrodes 360 may include drive and sense electrodes that are positioned to drive the composite mesh ring 310 in the extensional mode and sense only the extensional mode of the composite mesh ring 310. In some embodiments, an extensional mode of vibration may be referred to as a pseudo-extensional mode, where the excitation may appear as two superimposed wineglass n=2 modes driven in anti-phase relative to each other. The composite mesh ring 310 in extensional/pseudo-extensional mode may be driven at a much lower frequency than conventional ring structures. The pseudo-extensional mode of vibration may be used for rate sensing with Q-factors of 110,000 and noise level of 0.06/hr (for a 22 mm.sup.2 gyroscope, for example). In a non-limiting embodiment, the extensional/pseudo-extensional mode is seen as common-mode with respect to the electrodes 360.

[0034] In some embodiments, the electrodes 360 are positioned on opposite sides of the composite mesh ring 310. FIG. 5A illustrates an example arrangement of drive and sense electrodes according to a non-limiting embodiment. The electrodes 360 may include at least one pair of drive or forcer electrodes 510 positioned on opposite sides of the composite mesh ring 310 and at least one pair of sense of pick-off electrodes 520 positioned on opposite sides of the composite mesh ring 310. The drive electrodes (D1, D2) in pair 510 are electrically connected and the sense electrodes (S1, S2) in pair 520 are electrically connected. The pair of drive electrodes 510 may be configured to electrostatically apply a voltage to the composite mesh ring 310 to excite the ring in an in-plane extensional mode. The pair of sense electrodes 520 may be configured to sense the in-plane extensional mode of the composite mesh ring 310 and output signals that may be used to determine rotation. In a non-limiting embodiment, a first support structure 320a of the one or more support structures 320 may be positioned on an inner side of a first electrode (e.g., D1, S1) of the pair of drive/sense electrodes. In a non-limiting embodiment, a second support structure 320b of the one or more support structures 320 may be positioned on an outer side of a second electrode (e.g., D2, S2) of the pair of drive/sense electrodes.

[0035] In a non-limiting embodiment of FIG. 5B, the electrodes 360 include four pairs (510, 512, 514, 516) of inner/outer drive (F) electrodes, four pairs (520, 522, 524, 526) of inner/outer sense (P) electrodes, and eight quadrature tuning (Q) electrodes. In addition, frequency tuning (T) electrodes may be provided that are shared between the drive and sense electrodes. In a non-limiting embodiment, a first support structure 320a of the one or more support structures 320 may be positioned on an inner side of the set of inner electrodes in the pairs of drive/sense electrodes, as can be seen on FIG. 3B. In a non-limiting embodiment, a second support structure 320b of the one or more support structures 320 may be positioned on an outer side of a set of outer electrodes of the pair of drive/sense electrodes, as can be seen in FIG. 3B.

[0036] In a non-limiting embodiment, FIG. 5B shows the electrode configuration for excitation of extensional/pseudo-extensional mode only. The extensional/pseudo-extensional mode is less sensitive to differential-gap change because the electrode configuration of FIG. 5B is more sensitive to common-mode gap change, which in turn makes the extensional/pseudo-extensional mode less sensitive to shock/vibrations and hence ideal for applications with harsh, high-G environments.

[0037] In some embodiments, to allow for extensional mode excitation and sensing, the drive electrodes in each pair (510, 512, 514, 516) are electrically connected and the sense electrodes (520, 522, 524, 526) in each pair are electrically connected. In addition, all the quadrature tuning electrodes are electrically connected to each other and all the frequency tuning electrodes are electrically connected to each other.

[0038] It will be appreciated that while FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a gyroscope design with extensional mode driven at 125 kHz, gyroscopes conforming to aspects of the present application may be driven at different frequencies (for example, 85 kHz or other frequency). FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate composite mesh ring 310 vibrating in extensional mode in a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation run.

[0039] Simulation and Results

[0040] It will be appreciated that while the MEMS ring gyroscope is described herein as operating in an extensional/pseudo-extensional mode, for purposes of comparing the wineglass mode versus extensional mode excitation, simulation was run for the MEMS ring gyroscope operating in wineglass mode and extensional mode. The mode of operation of the MEMS ring gyroscope was selected by changing the frequency of excitation and the configuration of the electrodes. Differential vs. common-mode combinations of inner and outer electrostatic electrodes select whether the wineglass or extensional mode is excited and sensed. FIGS. 7A and 7B show the results of a FEA simulation of the MEMS ring gyroscope (supporting structure omitted for clarity).

[0041] FIG. 7A illustrates modal displacement and vibration energy for wineglass mode. FIG. 7B illustrates modal displacement and vibration energy for extensional mode. The anchors and support structures are omitted for clarity in FIGS. 7A, 7B but included in simulation. As shown in Table 2 below, the angular gain and the modal mass of the extensional (n=2) mode was similar to that of wineglass (n=2) mode. As can be seen in FIG. 7A, the vibrational energy in the wineglass mode is concentrated in the outermost ring as shown by areas 1010, whereas the vibrational energy in the extensional mode (as can be seen in FIG. 7B) is concentrated substantially equally at the inner and outer sides of the ring as shown by areas 1020.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Wineglass vs. extensional mode Wineglass Extensional Modal mass (kg) 2.35e-8 2.25e-8 Angular gain k, (0 < k 1) 0.76 0.78 Quality factor (measured) 160,000 109,000

[0042] The modal mass was extracted from eigenfrequency analysis by taking a ratio of the kinetic energy to the square of average velocity for each mode. The angular gain was calculated using the frequency domain analysis by harmonically driving the extensional mode near its resonant frequency and extracting the amplitude of the degenerate extensional mode in response to the applied rotation.

[0043] A DC bias voltage of 20 V and AC voltage of 20 mV were used for initial experimental characterization. FIG. 8 illustrates a frequency sweep of the MEMS ring gyroscope showing wineglass (n=2, n=3, and n=4) modes followed by the extensional (n=2) mode.

[0044] FIG. 9 illustrates a log-linear plot of ring down showing Q-factors of 108,000 and 109,000 for the extensional degenerate (S11, S22) modes. S11 refers to a drive-mode for the pair of drive electrodes (e.g., pair 510 of FIG. 5A) and S22 refers to a sense-mode for the pair of sense electrodes (e.g., pair 520 of FIG. 5A). In a non-limiting embodiment, the on-axis frequency tuning electrodes (e.g., T.sub.0 and T.sub.45 as shown in FIG. 5B) may be used to match the frequencies of the degenerate modes and off-axis quadrature tuning electrodes (e.g., Q.sup. and Q.sup.+) may be used to remove quadrature.

[0045] FIG. 10 illustrates a non-limiting example in which at least one MEMS ring gyroscope of the types described herein is employed in a car. In the example of FIG. 10, an automobile 1400 includes a control unit 1402 coupled to an onboard computer 1404 of the car by a wired or wireless connection. Control unit 1402 may include at least one MEMS ring gyroscope of the type described herein. As a non-limiting example, the at least one MEMS ring gyroscope may detect rotation based on signals picked up by sense electrodes (e.g., sense electrodes 520-526). The control unit 1402 may receive power and control signals from the onboard computer 1404, and may supply output signals of the type described herein to the onboard computer 1404.

[0046] Having thus described several aspects and embodiments of the technology of this application, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the technology described in the application. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. In addition, any combination of two or more features, systems, articles, materials, and/or methods described herein, if such features, systems, articles, materials, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0047] Also, as described, some aspects may be embodied as one or more methods. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

[0048] All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.

[0049] The terms approximately, substantially, and about may be used to mean within 20% of a target value in some embodiments, within 10% of a target value in some embodiments, within 5% of a target value in some embodiments, and yet within 2% of a target value in some embodiments. The terms approximately and about may include the target value.