Processing and characterization of high permeability thin-film for micro rotating gyroscope development

Abstract

Current advancement in micro motor area is not encouraging. The devices generally suffer from limited lifetime issue. For this reason, most micro gyroscopes are designed to be of a vibrating type. Unfortunately, these designs have a major problem called "drift". Drift arises due to intrinsic instability, which is related to number of mechanical coupling associated with its design. Reliable operation of these gyros would require severe stability of all its parameters. A micro levitation gyroscope design would be the preferred solution to address these problems. This design had two advantages in both addressing the lifetime and drift problem. Since there is no mechanical contact, common micro motor problem of wear and limited lifetime could be solved. This design also will remove drift problem suffered by micro vibrating gyroscopes due to its non-contact design. In spite of these benefits, the development of such a design is still in its infancy. Many limitations associated with this design prevent it from commercialization. The main problem relating to this design is its high power consumption. The micro-rotating gyroscope utilizes electromagnetic principle for its operation. The device draws large amount of current in order to produce a levitation force to act as magnetic bearing. This problem can be addressed by adding an extra magnetic material as a backing plane to enhance the magnetic flux produce and hence the force. This enhancement would reduce the high current consumption currently suffered by the device.