Abstract:
A fully differential CMOS-MEMS oxide resonator fabricated using 0.18 μm CMOS-MEMS platform via metal wet-etching post process has been demonstrated with Q >; 10,000, firs...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
A fully differential CMOS-MEMS oxide resonator fabricated using 0.18 μm CMOS-MEMS platform via metal wet-etching post process has been demonstrated with Q >; 10,000, first time ever in any CMOS-MEMS resonators, and more than 25 dB signal-to-feedthrough ratio at 47.9 MHz. Key to attaining such performance attributes to (1) the bulk-mode vibration to enable exceptional Q and much higher frequencies and (2) the oxide-rich structure with embedded metal electrodes for capacitive transduction, where SiO2 offers better mechanical properties than metals to minimize intrinsic energy loss and where flexible electrical routing facilitates fully differential configuration to suppress capacitive feedthroughs. In addition, a previously developed metal wet-etching technique capable of releasing large device areas has been successfully transferred from 0.35 μm 2-Poly-4-Metal (2P4M) CMOS process to a new 0.18 μm 1-Poly-6-Metal (1P6M) technology node, therefore greatly lowering the motional impedance of the capacitively-transduced resonators due to smaller electrode-to-resonator gap spacing and larger transduction areas. This technology paves a way to realize fully-integrated CMOS-MEMS oscillators and filters which might benefit future single-chip transceivers for wireless communications.
Date of Conference: 21-24 May 2012
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 19 July 2012
ISBN Information: