Ensuring uniform thickness of the conductive coating on the inner surface of the hemispherical resonator by magnetron sputtering

The possibilities of technological ensuring of the uniformity of thickness distribution of a thin-film metal coating produced by magnetron sputtering on the inner surface of a thinwalled silica resonator made in the shape of a hemisphere are considered. The possibility of minimizing the thickness of the coating by optimizing the diameter of the annular magnetron emission zone in combination with the distance from the resonator to the target made of sprayed material is shown. A further increase in the evenness of thickness of the coating is possible on the basis of the use of a fixed screen with a hole, the shape and location of which are calculated analytically, and the final configuration of the contour is specified empirically

Manufacture of Hemispherical Shell and Surrounding Eave-Shaped Electrodes

A hemispherical resonator consists of a hemispherical shell and the surrounding circular electrodes. The asymmetry of a hemispherical shell has influence on the vibrating mode and quality factor. The gap distance from shell to electrode is critical for the capacitance and sensitivity of a hemispherical resonator. To realize a symmetric shell and a small gap, a kind of micro-hemispherical resonator (μHR) structure including sandwich-shaped stacks and eave-shaped electrodes has been developed using a glassblowing process. The blowing process could bring favorable surface roughness and symmetry. The locations of the hemispherical shell and surrounding electrodes can be precisely controlled by the designs of sandwich-shaped stacks and eave-shaped electrodes, making it feasible to realize uniform and small gaps. In addition, electrical insulation between the hemispherical shell and eave-shaped electrodes can be guaranteed owing to eave-shaped structure. The fabrication process and results are demonstrated in detail. Furthermore, an estimation method of shell thickness in a nondestructive manner is proposed, with deviation below 5%. Taking asymmetry, surface roughness, and gap into consideration, these results preliminarily indicate this structure with a hemispherical shell and surrounding eave-shaped electrodes is promising in hemispherical resonator applications.

The Analysis and Simulation with the Fatigue Life of Hemispherical Resonator Gyro

The life and damage of hemispherical resonator are important factors that directly affect the service time and safety of high-precision hemispherical resonator gyro. However, the fused silica glass material used in the hemispherical resonator which was processed in China is mainly imported, and it is too expensive to use the traditional fatigue life experiment, so it is necessary to use the software of fatigue life analysis to analyze its fatigue life. In the paper, the ANSYS software is used to analyze the fatigue life of fused silica hemispherical resonator, to determine the dangerous parts caused by the residual stress to analyze the crack propagation in the fatigue parts, and to obtain the sum stress intensity factor, so as to effectively monitor and prevent the fatigue-prone parts in the process of structural design and use of the hemispherical resonator.

Research on the Time-Domain Measurement Method of Low-Frequency Splitting for Hemispherical Resonator

The measurement of resonator’s frequency splitting is a critical issue in vibratory gyroscopes, which would be elaborately treated in practical applications. The high-precision measurement of frequency splitting plays a significant role in frequency tuning control. A novel time-domain method of frequency splitting measurement for hemispherical resonator based on the standing wave swing effect was proposed. The frequency splitting value of the resonator can be directly obtained by taking the reciprocal of the one cycle time of standing wave swings, rather than through the frequency difference between two resonant modes. To begin with, the method was analyzed theoretically, and the measurement resolution and accuracy of the method were researched in detail. Simulation and experimental results showed that the frequency splitting value can be effectively obtained by measuring the period of the standing wave swings, improving the fine measurement resolution and high accuracy. The frequency splitting of lower than 0.007 Hz has to be effectively obtained in the experiment. It is found that the measurement error is a small proportional part of frequency splitting value, so the measurement accuracy is very high when the frequency splitting is very low. Therefore, this time-domain method would contribute to the measurement of ultralow-frequency splitting for high-Q resonators.