Characterization of Energy Dissipation Mechanisms in Dual Foucault Pendulum Gyroscopes

In this paper, the primary energy dissipation mechanisms in a dynamically balanced Dual Foucault Pendulum (DFP) gyroscope are identified and characterized experimentally. A Q-factor over one million was measured at room temperature on a vacuum packaged mode-ordered DFP, with operational frequency at 15 kHz. The measurement at low temperature, using a cryogenic probe station, made the anchor loss limit of Q-factor observable. A Q-factor of over 9 million was measured at 110K. The unbalanced electrostatic softening due to fabrication imperfection was identified to contribute to the anchor loss.