Intrinsically-Compensated Ultra-High-Q Silicon Resonators

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

INTRINSICALLY-COMPENSATED ULTRA-HIGH-Q SILICON RESONATORSPROJECT SUMMARYAs MEMS technology evolves, it finds its way in an ever growing number and range of commercialapplications. In particular, silicon micromechanical resonators have the potential to replace conventionalelectronic and mechanical devices in a variety of timing, sensing and spectral processing applications,thus enabling the development of completely new products. There are, however, a number of areas wherethe performance of such resonators lags significantly behind that of currently existing discretealternatives. These areas include the sensitivity of the resonant frequency to process fluctuations, itsstability with respect to changes in temperature, and the fact that the quality factor and impedance ofcurrent silicon resonators degrades dramatically in the high UHF range (1 GHz and above). The goal ofthe proposed research is to develop and demonstrate radically new technologies that will bring theperformance of silicon MEMS resonators to a level suitable for widespread insertion into commercialapplications. Specifically, the proposed research will advance the state of silicon MEMS resonatortechnology in the following areas (intellectual merits of the proposed research):(a) Deeper understanding of intrinsic loss mechanisms in silicon, and consequent development of ultrahigh-Q silicon resonators that are completely compatible with standard IC fabrication processes, and (b)development of zero-power temperature compensation techniques based on the engineering of materialproperties and resonator geometries that avoid degradation of the Q of the resonator.Dissemination of the scientific results will take place in the form of presentations at national andinternational professional conferences, articles in technical journals, and university seminars. Technologytransfer to the commercial sector will be facilitated by the Georgia Electronic Design Center, whose goalis to sustain the technology growth of the semiconductor industry by placing an emphasis on significantlong-term research.Broader impact of the proposed researchThis effort will promote advanced research and education in the area of micro and nano-mechanicalsignal processing. Integration of research and education will be pursued through graduate andundergraduate courses developed by the PI. These courses cover the principles of micro- and nanoelectromechanicalsystem analysis and design, with an emphasis on MEMS resonators. The coursematerial is constantly updated, and will include the results of research activities that are undertaken duringthe course of the research project described in this proposal. The existing graduate level course on?Interface IC design for MEMS and Sensors? will be augmented by hands-on laboratory sessions.Involvement of undergraduate students in research and educational activities is another important task ofthis proposal. To this end, the PI will seek applicants among the participants in the SummerUndergraduate Research in Engineering/Science Program at Georgia Tech, a ten-week summer researchprogram designed to attract qualified minority students into graduate school in the fields of engineeringand science. The program has received highly favorable evaluations from past participants. It is hopedthat this unique experience will encourage these students to become applicants for graduate school inensuing years.