This dissertation has two distinct goals. The first is to fabricate a MEMS Lorentz force navigation magnetometer using the same techniques as gyroscopes and accelerometers allowing for construction of a single chip inertial measurement unit. The second is to determine if parametric amplification has commercial benefits or if it is just an academic curiosity.
Previous Lorentz force magnetometers have used non-standard fabrication steps, consume too much power or lack the required sensitivity to be competitive. To increase the sensitivity and the competitiveness of Lorentz force magnetometers, parametric amplification is performed.
Three Lorentz force magnetometers were studied. The first was a Z-axis parametrically amplified magnetometer with a 34 nT/√Hz, 0.3 degrees/√Hz resolution operated in a vacuum. The second was a Z-axis parametrically amplified magnetometer with a resolution of 87 nT/√Hz, 0.78 degrees/√Hz operated at 1 atm. And the third is a 3-axis magnetometer with a resolution of 2.6 nT/√Hz, 0.02 degrees/√Hz operated in a vacuum. Parametric amplification was shown to increase the magnetic flux sensitivity up to 82.5-fold and improve the system wide signal to noise ratio of the sensor up to 10-fold.