Development of temperature-stable, high-performance silicon resonators

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Our reliance on smart systems in the form of IoT modules, wearables, and mobile computing platforms is rapidly growing, where billions of such systems are sold annually. These complex systems rely on silicon micromechanical or microelectronic devices that are integrated at the chip, package, or board levels. These independent systems utilize reference oscillators to synchronize events or communicate between each other and with other systems. Quartz resonators are presently used to realize these reference oscillators and account for most of the US $7.5B timing market. However, since quartz resonators cannot be integrated within silicon microsystems, there has been a significant effort to develop silicon resonators to replace quartz. The high temperature sensitivity of silicon resonators has been the major obstacle to their adoption in timing references. Despite numerous laboratory demonstrations, most proposed solutions do not evolve into scalable manufacturing solutions. On the one hand, the work in academia has often relied on sparse empirical data and pursued in isolation from the constraints of large-scale manufacturing. On the other hand, process optimization is a complex, multi-variable problem that cannot be solved through limited experiments. This project brings together the researchers at SFU with a motivated industrial partner, Stathera, to develop scalable, passive temperature compensation techniques to rival or exceed the performance of quartz crystals. The team will develop multiscale, physics-based models for the thermal response of silicon under different processing parameters. These models will be evaluated experimentally through fabrication runs at SFU. The most promising solutions will then be tried through foundry runs. The results will be used to improve models and devise device design methods for future product development.The multidisciplinary nature of the proposed research will appeal to researchers from diverse backgrounds. By carefully considering and attending to equity and inclusivity issues, this project creates an excellent opportunity to train 12 HQP who will lead Canada's engagement in this field.