Quality factor and phase noise improvements in MEMS resonators and oscillators

Quality factor and phase noise are important figures for any resonator or oscillator. This presentation focuses on studies to address improvements in quality factor in bulk mode resonators, and phase noise in nonlinear flexural mode resonators. In bulk resonators, anchor loss can be a significant limitation on quality factor, especially for resonators in the MHz range. This paper presents an informed study on anchor loss in bulk resonators, and demonstrates how proper anchor design can improve resonator performance. In flexural resonators, nonlinear effects have often been avoided due to amplitude dependence on frequency. However, it has been previously shown that nonlinear effects can improve phase noise performance of resonators. Here, we demonstrate a cascade of parametrically driven resonators that functions as a purely mechanical frequency divider, and also demonstrates improved phase noise performance over identical linear resonators.