Vibrating gyroscope consisting of three layers of polysilicon thin films

A vibrating gyroscope consisting of three layers of polysilicon thin films has been developed. It has an upper electrode over a resonating mass for de tecting accurately the sensing vibration oscillated by the Coriolis force. The resonant frequencies of both the driving and sensing vibrations are con trolled by the DC bias to comb electrodes that are used for detecting the d riving vibration. The offset on the angular rate output due to the mechanic al and electromechanical couplings is decreased by an unbalanced differenti al oscillation. With this tuning method and the offset reduction, the angul ar rate was detected. The resolution of 1 degrees s(-1) is achieved. (C) 20 00 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.