Device including a micromechanical resonator having an operating frequency and method of extending same
First Claim
1. A micromechanical resonator device having an operating frequency, a resonator formed on a substrate and a support structure anchored to the substrate to support the resonator above the substrate characterized in that:
- the support structure is attached at at least one nodal point of the resonator and the support structure and the resonator are both dimensioned so that the resonator is isolated during resonator vibration wherein energy losses to the substrate are substantially eliminated and wherein the resonator device is a high-Q resonator device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A flexural-mode, micromechanical resonator utilizing a non-intrusive support structure to achieve measured Q'"'"'s as high as 8,400 at VHF frequencies from 30-90 MHz is manufactured using polysilicon surface micromachining technology. Also, a method for extending the operating frequency of the resonator as well as other types of micromechanical resonators is disclosed. One embodiment of the method is called a differential-signaling technique. The other embodiment of the method is called a dimple-down technique. The support structure includes one or more torsional-mode support springs in the form of beams that effectively isolate a resonator beam from its anchors via quarter-wavelength impedance transformations, minimizing anchor dissipation and allowing the resonator to achieve high Q with high stiffness in the VHF frequency range. The resonator also includes one or more spacers in the form of dimples formed on the flexural resonator beam or the substrate. In operation, the dimples determine a capacitive-transducer gap of the resonator. When a large DC-bias voltage is applied between a drive electrode and the resonator beam, the dimples provide a predetermined minimum distance between the flexural resonator beam and the drive electrode.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A micromechanical resonator device having an operating frequency, a resonator formed on a substrate and a support structure anchored to the substrate to support the resonator above the substrate characterized in that:
the support structure is attached at at least one nodal point of the resonator and the support structure and the resonator are both dimensioned so that the resonator is isolated during resonator vibration wherein energy losses to the substrate are substantially eliminated and wherein the resonator device is a high-Q resonator device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for extending the operating frequency of a micromechanical resonator device including a resonator having a fundamental resonant mode formed on a substrate and a support structure anchored to the substrate to support the resonator above the substrate, the method comprising:
forcing different portions of the resonator to move in opposite directions at the same time so that the resonator vibrates in a resonant mode, m, higher than the fundamental resonant mode wherein the resonator has m+1 nodal points and wherein the support structure is attached to the nodal points so that the resonator is isolated during resonator vibration. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
Specification