US Patent 7929143 Integrated resonating gyro accelerometer in a semiconductor substrate

An integrated interferometric gyroscope and accelerometer device. An example device includes a cantilever beam, a package having a post connected to one end of the beam, a piezoresistor driver, a piezoresistor sensor, and a semiconductor interferometric optical gyro. The piezoresistor driver is incorporated within the beam at a first area proximate to the post. The driver electro-thermally resonates the beam. The piezoresistor sensor is incorporated within the beam at the first area. The sensor piezoresitively senses a signal that relates to an acceleration force out-of-plane of the beam. The semiconductor interferometric optical gyro is also incorporated within the beam at a second area of the beam. The gyro senses rotational motion about an axis approximately equivalent to the acceleration force out-of-plane of the beam. The gyro includes a waveguide, a laser source and a light detector. The beam is formed from a semiconductor substrate.