Design and dynamic analysis of a highly sensitive MEMS gyroscope based on mode localization

Abstract

Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscopes have important applications in various fields, including aviation, spaceflight, weaponry and automatic driving. To improve the robustness and sensitivity, we design a novel dual-mass MEMS gyroscope based on mode localization in this paper. The gyroscope structure comprises a pair of perturbation systems connected with weakly coupled resonator systems, which eliminates the mode matching and achieves mode localization effects. The dynamic behavior of the MEMS gyroscope is developed using the complex exponential method. The detection characteristics of the amplitude ratio (AR) and amplitude difference (AD) are compared. By combining numerical simulation, we analyzed the influence of critical parameters. It is indicated that the sensitivity can reach up to 40 036.9 ppm/°/s through the AR output, which is two magnitudes higher than the traditional MEMS gyroscope. For the detection of the micro-angular rate, the AD output has advantages in sensitivity, and the AR output has a smaller nonlinearity error. In addition, structural parameters, especially the voltage of the perturbation parallel plates, have a significant impact on the system’s sensitivity. If the breakdown voltage requirement is satisfied, the sensitivity can be enhanced more than ten times by amplifying the voltage, which further broadens the application field of the MEMS gyroscope.