State-of-the-Art Carbide Femto-Second Laser System for Fabrication and Post-Process Tuning of MEMS Gyroscopes
Abstract
We propose to acquire a state-of-the-art system for permanent tuning of micromachinedinertial sensors. The system will immediately and profoundly impact our current developments onultra-high resolution inertial sensors, targeting MEMS gyroscopes with 0.001 deg/hour BiasRepeatability and 1 PPM Scale Factor Stability. Such components will address the military needsfor high performance miniaturized inertial sensors, uniquely tailored for gyro-compassing, FarTarget Detection systems with 1 mil azimuth detection, and self-contained navigation in GPSdeniedenvironment. New research directions will also be enabled at UCI relevant to the DoDmission, including the development of a chip-scale precision gyrocompass (pending ONRProposal No. 72528-RT-REP ~Gyrocompass On-a-Chip (XYZ-Chip): Amplitude Amplified ZAxisQMG co-integrated with X/Y FM Accelerometers~), a new breed of 3-D Rate IntegratingGyroscopes for high spin and extreme shock environments, chip-scale combinatorial atomicnavigators, and a futuristic ~Ultimate Navigation Microchip (uNavChip)~. The envisioneduNavChip microsystem will achieve the localization accuracy on the level of 1 meter in GPSdeniedenvironment for hours of operation based on simultaneous integration of Deterministic,Probabilistic, and Cooperative localization algorithms. The proposed system will improve researchrelated education by providing students with hands-on experience developing and testing standalone high performance sensors for challenging DoD applications.The proposed state-of-the-art system, DB 12088 three-axis Laser Work Station, willprovide high-precision, exceptional flexibility, dust-free, and ultra-fast micromachining and highlyselective trimming of inert materials. This capability will be used for vertical etching or permanenttuning of MEMS sensors and utilized as a lithography-free micromachining process or as a postprocessingstep in the lithography-based machining. The unique features of the tool are enabledby the ~Femtosecond Laser Irradiation and Chemical Etching (FLICE)~ physics which will beapplied to precision machining of microsensors from Single Crystal Silicon and Fused Quartzmaterials. The Laser Work Station has 6 degrees of freedom servo-controlled motion with 250 nmpositioning resolution. The 4-watt 1 MHz Carbide Laser Light Conversion integrated in the Stationallows precise mass removal, which would enable shaping MEMS inertial sensors or adjustingafter fabrication with unprecedented precision. The Carbide Femto-Second Laser system iscapable to pattern structures on the materials by introducing micro-defects followed by wetchemical etching. The trench area treated by laser irritation has significantly higher etching rate inthe wet etching compared to the intact Single Crystal Silicon or Fused Quartz materials, resultingin 100 ~m vertical depth etching with aspect ratio 5:1. These new capabilities would facilitate thedevelopment of novel fabrication and post-fabrication processes for small size, weight, power, andcost, yet high quality factor and ultra-high precision, Single Crystal Silicon and Fused Quartzmicromachined inertial sensors, which are critical for self-contained positioning, navigation,timing, and precision gyro-compassing applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 15, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912338
Entities
People
- Andrei M. Shkel
Organizations
- Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy