Abstract: An atomic magnetometer that simultaneously achieves high sensitivity, simple fabrication and small size. This design is based on a diverging (or converging) beam of light that passes through an alkali atom vapor cell and that contains a distribution of beam propagation vectors. The existence of more than one propagation direction permits longitudinal optical pumping of atomic system and simultaneous detection of the transverse atomic polarization. The design could be implemented with a micro machined alkali vapor cell and light from a single semiconductor laser. A small modification to the cell contents and excitation geometry allows for use as a gyroscope.

Abstract: A method of assembling a three dimensional micromachined structure comprising the steps of defining a cavity in a holder wafer having a thick upper layer, providing a plurality of fingers in the thick upper layer extending from the holder wafer into the cavity, and disposing an out-of-plane wafer into the cavity in the holder wafer in engagement with the fingers to hold the out-of-plane wafer in place in an out-of-plane position with respect to the holder wafer. The invention also includes an apparatus made according to any combination of the above method steps and/or the structure of the apparatus which is fabricated from any combination of those method steps.

Abstract: A method for forming microspheres on a microscopic level comprises the steps of defining holes through a substrate, disposing a sheet of thermally formable material onto the substrate covering the holes, heating the sheet of thermally formable material until a predetermined degree of plasticity is achieved, applying fluidic pressure through the holes to the sheet of thermally formable material, while the sheet of glass is still plastic, and forming microspheres on the substrate in the sheet of thermally formable material by means of continued application of pressure for a predetermined time. The invention also includes a substrate having a plurality of holes defined therethrough, a layer of thermally formable material disposed onto the substrate covering the plurality of holes, and a plurality of microspheres thermally formed in the layer by means of applied pressure through the holes when it has been heated to a predetermined degree of plasticity.

Abstract: A three-degrees of freedom (DOF) MEMS inertial micromachined gyroscope with nonresonant actuation with a drive direction, sense direction and a direction perpendicular to the drive and sense directions comprises a planar substrate, a 2-DOF sense-mode oscillator coupled to the substrate operated at a flattened wide-bandwidth frequency region, and a 1-DOF drive mode oscillator coupled operated at resonance in the flattened wide-bandwidth frequency region to achieve large drive-mode amplitudes.

Abstract: A MEMS device which utilizes a capacitive sensor or actuator is enhancement by initially fabricating the capacitive assembly which comprises the sensor or actuator as two sets of interdigitated fingers in a noninterdigitated configuration. One of the two sets of fingers is coupled to a movable stage. The stage is moved from an initial position to a post-release position in which the two sets of interdigitated fingers are interdigitated with each other. The stage is carried by two pairs flexures which maintain the stability of motion of the stage and when in the post-release position provide stiffness which prevents deflection of the set of fingers coupled to the stage. The stage and hence the assembled sets of fingers are then locked into the post-release position.

Abstract: A gimbal-type torsional z-axis micromachined gyroscope with a non-resonant actuation scheme measures angular rate of an object with respect to the axis normal to the substrate plane (the z-axis). A 2 degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) drive-mode oscillator is comprised of a sensing plate suspended inside two gimbals. By utilizing dynamic amplification of torsional oscillations in the drive-mode instead of resonance, large oscillation amplitudes of the sensing element is achieved with small actuation amplitudes, providing improved linearity and stability despite parallel-plate actuation. The device operates at resonance in the sense direction for improved sensitivity, while the drive direction amplitude is inherently constant within the same frequency band.

Abstract: A four-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) nonresonant micromachined gyroscope utilizes a dynamical amplification both in the 2-DOF drive-direction oscillator and the 2-DOF sense-direction oscillator, which are structurally decoupled, to achieve large oscillation amplitudes without resonance. The overall 4-DOF dynamical system is comprised of three proof masses. The second and third masses form the 2-DOF sense-direction oscillator. The first mass and the combination of the second and third masses form the 2-DOF drive-direction oscillator. The frequency responses of the drive and sense-mode oscillators have two resonant peaks and a flat region between the peaks. The device is nominally operated in the flat regions of the response curves belonging to the drive and sense-mode oscillators, where the gain is less sensitive to frequency fluctuations. This is achieved by designing the drive and sense anti-resonance frequencies to match.

Abstract: A sensor is fabricated with micron feature sizes capable of simultaneously measuring absolute angles of rotation and angular rotational rates. The measurements are made directly from the position and velocity of the device without the need for electronic integration or differentiation. The device measures angle directly, avoiding the integration of electronic errors and allowing for higher performance in attitude measurement. These performance improvements and flexibility in usage allow for long term attitude sensing applications such as implantable prosthetics, micro-vehicle navigation, structural health monitoring, and long range smart munitions. Through the fabrication of the device using lithographic methods, the device can be made small and in large qualities, resulting in low costs and low power consumption.