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Electrical Characterization of Microelectromechanical Silicon Carbide Resonators
Wen-Teng Chang1, Christian Zorman2
1Department of Electrical Engineering, National University of Kaohsiung, No. 700, Kaohsiung University Road, Nan-Tzu District, Kaohsiung 811, Taiwan. wtchang@nuk.edu.tw.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|November 23, 2016
Summary
Silicon carbide (SiC) MEMS resonators show frequency shifts with pressure and voltage changes. SiC resonators offer improved DC bias stability compared to polysilicon, with minimal temperature impact on quality factor.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
Background:
- Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) resonators are crucial for sensing and timing applications.
- Silicon carbide (SiC) offers superior material properties for harsh environments compared to silicon.
- Understanding SiC MEMS resonator performance under various conditions is vital for device optimization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the resonant frequency and quality factor (Q) of SiC MEMS resonators.
- To evaluate the impact of ambient pressure, AC drive voltage, DC bias potential, and temperature on resonator performance.
- To compare the performance of single-crystal and polycrystalline 3C-SiC lateral resonators.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication and testing of single-crystal and polycrystalline 3C-SiC lateral MEMS resonators.
- Experimental analysis under varying ambient pressures, AC drive voltages, DC bias potentials, and temperatures.
- Measurement of resonant frequency and quality factor (Q) under different test conditions.
Main Results:
- Reduced pressure increases resonant frequency due to gas-rarefaction damping.
- Both AC and DC voltages induce nonlinearities; AC voltage is more noise-sensitive.
- SiC resonators exhibit superior DC bias voltage coefficients (-11 to -21 ppm/V) compared to polysilicon resonators (-54 ppm/V).
- Resonator stiffness softens with increasing bias potential and hardens with increasing drive voltage.
- Resonant frequency shows a negative temperature coefficient (-22 ppm/°C) between 22°C and 60°C.
- Quality factor (Q) demonstrates no significant temperature dependence in the tested range.
Conclusions:
- SiC MEMS resonators exhibit tunable frequency responses to environmental and electrical parameters.
- The superior DC bias stability of SiC resonators makes them promising for high-performance applications.
- While temperature affects resonant frequency, the quality factor remains stable, indicating robust performance across a moderate temperature range.
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