Nihon Dempa Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Jun Katase

Hideryo Matsudo

Takahiro Ohtsuka

Shigeto Yotuya

A manufacturing method produces an angular velocity sensor element easily with a high degree of accuracy. The manufacturing method includes forming a number of tuning fork shaped crystal elements on a single crystal wafer by a photo-etching technique, the crystal elements having protrusion ridge line sections in the lengthwise direction of +X faces of the crystal, caused by etching anisotropy. A step is included for forming a metallic film on each side face including both principal planes and said +X face of said tuning fork shaped crystal element of the single crystal wafer. The method also includes dividing the metallic film of the +X face along the protrusion ridge line section and forming first and second sensor electrodes.

Process of making a tuning fork type crystal component

The present invention provides a tuning fork shaped oscillator, an angular velocity sensor element, and an angular velocity sensor with improved breaking strength with respect to CI and drive power, CI stability, and frequency stability. The present invention relates to a tuning fork shaped crystal oscillator of a configuration wherein two tuning fork shaped crystal elements that have been formed by wet etching during the process of forming the external shape of a tuning fork, in such a manner that the longitudinal direction of the tuning fork is aligned on the Y-axis of the crystalline axes (XYZ) and also the lateral direction thereof is aligned on the X-axis, are bonded together with the &#xb1;X-axis directions thereof oriented in opposite directions; and the right side surface of each of the two tuning fork shaped crystal elements is the +X face of the crystal when the two tuning fork shaped crystal elements are viewed in an upright attitude.

Tuning fork shaped crystal oscillator and method of fabrication thereof

The present invention provides an angular velocity sensor element that can be produced easily with a high degree of accuracy, and a manufacturing method thereof. In the angular velocity sensor element of the present invention, the lengthwise direction of a tuning fork shaped crystal element is a Y axis of a crystal axis, the widthwise direction is an X axis and the depthwise direction is a Z axis, and mutually electrically separated first and second sensor electrodes for angular velocity detection are provided on at least one face among side faces of the tuning fork arm. The tuning fork shaped crystal element is formed from a single crystal wafer by a photo-etching technique, and the side face of the tuning fork arm on which the first and second sensor electrodes are formed is a +X face of the crystal, and the first and second sensor electrodes are arranged on both sides of a protrusion ridge line section on the +X face that occurs in the lengthwise direction of the side face due to crystallinity of the crystal.

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Saitama, Japan

Jun Katase