Claims
- 1. A method of tuning a mechanical resonator gyroscope, comprising the steps of:
mounting a mechanical resonator gyroscope in a vacuum chamber with a controllable focused ion beam where the gyroscope includes an exciting element and a sensing element for measuring a resonant frequency of the gyroscope; activating the exciting and sensing elements to measure the resonant frequency of the mechanical resonator gyroscope; and adjusting the resonant frequency of the gyroscope to a desired resonant frequency value by controlling the focused ion beam to remove material of the gyroscope.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mechanical resonator gyroscope comprises silicon.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mechanical resonator gyroscope is formed by micromachining.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the exciting and sensing elements comprise capacitive electrodes.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the resonant frequency of the gyroscope is measured and adjusted simultaneously.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the material removal by the focused ion beam is performed at a sufficiently slow rate so that a change in the resonant frequency can be measured.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is removed from an area of the gyroscope determined from finite element modeling analysis.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the material is removed from a flexure beam thickness of the gyroscope.
- 9. A mechanical resonator gyroscope manufactured by the steps of:
mounting a mechanical resonator gyroscope in a vacuum chamber with a controllable focused ion beam where the gyroscope includes an exciting element and a sensing element for measuring at least one resonant frequency of the gyroscope; activating the exciting and sensing elements to measure the resonant frequency of the mechanical resonator gyroscope; and adjusting the resonant frequency of the gyroscope to a desired resonant frequency value by controlling the focused ion beam to remove material of the gyroscope.
- 10. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the mechanical resonator gyroscope comprises silicon.
- 11. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the mechanical resonator gyroscope is produced by micromachining.
- 12. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the exciting and sensing elements comprise capacitive electrodes.
- 13. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the resonant frequency of the gyroscope is measured and adjusted simultaneously.
- 14. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the material removal by the focused ion beam is performed at a sufficiently slow rate so that a change in the resonant frequency can be measured.
- 15. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the material is removed from an area of the gyroscope determined from finite element modeling analysis.
- 16. The mechanical resonator gyroscope of claim 9, wherein the material is removed from a flexure beam thickness of the gyroscope.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This continuation-in-part application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 120 of the following co-pending and commonly-assigned U.S. utility patent application, which is incorporated by reference herein:
[0002] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/928,279, filed Aug. 10, 2001, and entitled “ISOLATED RESONATOR GYROSCOPE”.
[0003] This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 1, 2002, and entitled “MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEM (MEMS) TUNING USING FOCUSED ION BEAMS”. which is incorporated by reference herein.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT RIGHTS
[0004] This invention was made with Government support awarded by the Government. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09928279 |
Aug 2001 |
US |
Child |
10285886 |
Nov 2002 |
US |