Patent ID: 9482535
Filing Date: 2016-11-01
CPC Classification: G01C

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus comprising: a silicon substrate; an optomechanical disk formed in the silicon substrate that acts as an optical ring resonator and a mechanical disk resonator; a drive laser to generate an optical drive signal; a drive channel formed as a waveguide in the silicon substrate to act as a waveguide for the optical drive signal, the drive channel comprising drive couplers aligned with a mechanical resonance antinode of the optomechanical disk to excite the optomechanical disk by evanescent coupling, wherein when light from the drive laser is modulated at a mechanical resonance frequency of the optomechanical disk, transduction between the drive couplers and the optomechanical disk causes the optomechanical disk to mechanically resonate in a vibrational mode; a drive photodetector formed in the silicon substrate and optically coupled to the drive channel waveguide to receive an output optical signal from the drive channel; a sense laser to generate an optical sense signal; a sense channel formed as a waveguide in the silicon substrate to act as a waveguide for the optical sense signal, the sense channel comprising sense couplers aligned with a mechanical resonance node of the optomechanical disk for evanescent coupling to the optomechanical disk; and a sense photodetector formed in the silicon substrate and optically coupled to the drive channel waveguide to receive an output optical signal from the sense channel to detect a change in the vibrational mode of the optomechanical disk through the evanescent coupling with the sense couplers, the change in the vibrational mode being in proportion to external rotation of the optomechanical disk.