Polysilicon surface micromachined optical rotating sensor

This paper presents a new design of micromachined optical rotating sensor (ORS). The concept demonstration prototype shows that the sensor will be low cost, small and reliable. To obtain a micro ORS, a ring resonator was designed, based on the three-layer polysilicon surface micromachining process. The ring resonator is made up of three micro mirrors and a laser diode coated with an anti-reflective coating. The micro ORS relies on the Sagnac effect for its operation. The resolution analysis and sensor design is presented here, and the signal processing and control system design is discussed. The theoretical resolution is in the range of 1 - 6 deg/h.