Temperature compensated beam resonator

• US 10,056,877 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2015
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy
• Original Assignee: Teknologian tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy
• Inventors: Jaakkola, Antti, Pekko, Panu, Prunnila, Mika, Pensala, Tuomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Martin, Edgardo San
• Application Number:
  US14/874,522
• Publication Number:
  US 20160099703A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,051 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 2009/241 Bulk-mode MEMS resonators
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 3/0076 for obtaining desired frequency or temperature coefficients
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 9/02448 of temperature influence
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 9/2405 of microelectro-mechanical resonators
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 9/2447 Beam resonators H03H9/2468 takes precedence

Abstract

The invention provides a microelectromechanical resonator device comprising a support structure and a resonator manufactured on a (100) or (110) semiconductor wafer, wherein the resonator is suspended to the support structure and comprises at least one beam being doped to a doping concentration of 1.1*10²⁰ cm⁻³ or more with an n-type doping agent and is being capable of resonating in a length-extensional, flexural resonance or torsional mode upon suitable actuation. In particular, the doping concentration and angle of the beam are chosen so as to simultaneously produce zero or close to zero second order TCF, and even more preferably zero or close to zero first and second order TCFs, for the resonator in said resonance mode, thus providing a temperature stable resonator.

Claims

1. A microelectromechanical resonator device comprising,

a support structure,

a resonator suspended to the support structure and having at least one beam, the beam;

having a longitudinal axis,

being doped to a doping concentration with an n-type doping agent, and

being capable of resonating in a length-extensional, flexural or torsional resonance mode,

an actuator for exciting said length-extensional, flexural or torsional resonance mode into the resonator,

wherein the support structure and the resonator are manufactured from a (100) oriented semiconductor wafer or a (110) oriented semiconductor wafer,

wherein said doping concentration is at least 1.1*10²⁰ cm<sup>−

3</sup>, and

wherein the longitudinal axis of the beam is oriented

at an angle of 17±

10 degrees with respect to the [100] crystal direction of the wafer if said resonance mode is length-extensional or flexural, and

at an angle of 0±

35 degrees with respect to the [110] crystal direction of the wafer if said resonance mode is torsional.

2. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the resonator includes only one beam.

3. The resonator device according to claim 2, wherein the resonator is essentially comprised of said beam.

4. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the resonator includes at least two beams having longitudinal axes at an angle with respect to each other.

5. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein

the resonator includes at least two beams whose longitudinal axes are oriented at said angle, and

the whole resonator has an axis of symmetry which is essentially parallel with the [100] direction if said resonance mode is length-extensional or flexural or [110] direction if said resonance mode is torsional.

6. The resonator device according to claim 4, wherein the beams are connected to each other from their ends.

7. The resonator device according to claim 6, further comprising three, four or more beams arranged in ring formation.

8. The resonator device according to claim 4, wherein the at least two beams

are from their first ends connected to a common base portion having an axis of symmetry essentially parallel with the [100] direction if said resonance mode is length-extensional or flexural or [110] direction if said resonance mode is torsional, and

extend from the common base portion at equal angles with respect to the [100] or [110] direction, respectively, but at opposite sides of said direction in the plane of the wafer.

9. The resonator device according to claim 4, wherein the beams intersect each other and are suspended to the support structure at their zone of intersection.

10. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the resonator comprises an axis of symmetry which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the beam.

11. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein said resonance mode is length-extensional.

12. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein said resonance mode is flexural, the flexural plane being in the wafer plane and/or out of the wafer plane.

13. The resonator device according to claim 11, wherein said angle is 17±

8 degrees with respect to the [100] crystal direction.

14. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the resonance mode is torsional.

15. The resonator device according to claim 14, wherein an out-of-plane aspect ratio of the at least one beam is less than 2.

16. The resonator device according to claim 14, wherein

the beam is manufactured in (110) wafer plane and the longitudinal axis of the beam is oriented at 0±

35 degrees with respect to the [110] crystal direction, or

the beam is manufactured in (100) wafer plane and the longitudinal axis of the beam is oriented at 0±

20 degrees with respect to the [110] crystal direction.

17. The resonator device according to claim 14, wherein

the beam is manufactured in (110) wafer plane and its out-of-plane aspect ratio is 1.25 or less, or

the beam is manufactured in (100) wafer plane and its out-of-plane aspect ratio is 0.9 or less.

18. The resonator device according to claim 14, wherein the angle of the beam deviates from the [110] crystal direction by at least 5 degrees.

19. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein said doping concentration is at least 1.2*10²⁰ cm⁻

3.

20. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the in-plane aspect ratio of the at least one beam is 5:

1 or more.

21. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein the first order temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF₁) of the resonator is 1 ppm/C or less at at least the one temperature and a second order temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF₂) is 12 ppb/C² or less at said temperature.

22. The resonator device according to claim 1, wherein said actuator comprises a piezoelectric actuator acoustically coupled with the beam.