MEMS resonator

Presentation by Drs. Helger van Halewijn

23-10-2012

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Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 2012 COMSOL Conference in Milan

MEMS resonator overview package

Resonator size 500 x 700 x 150 micron Single silicon on CMOS technology High frequency stability, low time jitter, low temperature drift. Low motion damping Q-factor > 40000 ( 50 MHz)
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Overview of dogbone resonator

spring anchor
mass of resonator

actuation gap

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Schematic of dogbone resonator

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Some parameters studied in COMSOL

During production in waferfab all dimensions variations can influence the performance Q-factor, resonance stability
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Dimensions resonator head Anchor loss Thickness Si Oxidation layer Air pressure (vacuum)\ Thermal losses. Viscous Drag Electrostatic actuation+fringing Mode coupling.

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Non linear resonance frequency

Resonance frequency VDC x Fel VAC sin(t ) + g

f res
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

k VDC 0 wh m mg 3
2

k spring constant m mass system V driving voltage w width h height g gap

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Q-factor estimation
Reciprocal addition.
N 1 1 = Qtot i =1 Qi

Anchor loss : Qanchor 104 -107 dimension Thermo-elastic loss Qte 104-106 material Surface loss: Qsur 106-108 debris or cracks Air damping: Qair 102 107 vacuum quality, leakage Viscous drag Qdrag 105-107 vacuum quality

All seperate Q factors are estimated with COMSOL.

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Overview resonance mode at 56 MHz

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Acoustic loss at anchor.

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Acoustic loss: Gray domains, PML

Red arrows indicate PMLlayers. In PML complete acoustic absorption. Blue domains represent normal material properties. Eigenfrequency analyses.

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Acoustic loss: dimensional variations in the structure.

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Capacitances

Area of gate within green lines is 41084 m2 (drain area excluded)

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Fringe effects, from simple to real system

Simulated Cap = 338 fF Dominated by drain bottom capacitance

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Calculation + Simulation Gate Capacitance

1. 2. 3. 4. Simple hand calculation Drain C1 = 322 fF Gate C2 = 1270 fF and Source C3 = 18700 fF Capacitance C12=22.5 fF and C23=51 fF Using mathematical formula

C gate = C12 + C23 +

1 1 1 + C2 C1 + C3

5. 6. 7.

Cgate = 1264 fF Comsol result is Cgate Comsol= 1266 fF OK Csource and Cdrain have similar accuracies.

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Capacitance as function of resistivity

Gate
1.00E-11

Drain

1.00E-11

Capacitance [F]

Y11 100 200 1.00E-13 Y11 100 300 Y11 200 200 Y11 200 300

Capacitance [F]

1.00E-12

1.00E-12

1.00E-13

Y22 100 200 Y22 100 300 Y22 200 200 Y22 200 300

1.00E-14 1.00E-04 1.00E-03 1.00E-02 1.00E-01 1.00E+0 1.00E+0 1.00E+0 1.00E+0 1.00E+0 0 1 2 3 4 Conductance [S/m ]

1.00E-14 1.00E-04

1.00E-03

1.00E-02

1.00E-01

1.00E+00 1.00E+01 1.00E+02 1.00E+03 1.00E+04

Conductance [S/m ]

Feedthrough Capacitance
1.00E-11 Y11Y21 100 200 Y11Y12 100 300 Y11Y12 200 200 Y11Y12 200 300

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Capacitance [F]

1.00E-12

1.00E-13

1.00E-14 1.00E-04

Results from Comsol Including effects like air height and substrates thickness Resonator operates at 0.3 1.2 cm ( equivalent to 80 330 S/m) Capacitance variation is < 2% in resistivity range All simulations are performed with 56 MHz
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1.00E-03

1.00E-02

1.00E-01

1.00E+00 1.00E+01 1.00E+02 1.00E+03 1.00E+04

Conductance [S/m ]

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Asymmetric amplitude under electrical load (V bias)

At 10 Volt, a harmonic behavior. At 80 Volt bias an inharmonic term can easily be seen. At 56 MHz, oscillation time is 40 nsec. COMSOL time step < 1 nsec

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Ue 1.1 m

Static stress due to process cycles

Static stress at perifery due to curing procedures at various process conditions Stress concentrations in resonator legs.

Ue 7.1 m

Ue 13.1 m

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Q-factor of resonator under Stress

Q-factor as function of Underetch and Stress 300000
0 MPa 2.6 MPa 5.3 MPa 10.5 MPa 21.0 MPa 31.5 MPa

250000

200000 Q factor

150000

100000

50000

0 0.E+00

2.E-06

4.E-06 Underetch [m]

6.E-06

8.E-06

1.E-05

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Thermal losses in resonator

Q-factor can be written as:

1 Qtherm

E To = 2 C p 1 + ( )
2

E = Youngs Modulus [Pa] = expansioncoefficient [1/m] To = ambient temperature [K] = density [kg/m3] = frequency [rad/s] = thermal relaxation [s]
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Thermal losses in resonator

Temperature fluctuations of about 100C, at 56 MHz. This mechanism is due to material properties.

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Thickness Oxidation: Q factor and frequency shift

Q factor Straight resonator
14000000 12000000 10000000

8000000 6000000 4000000 2000000 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 SiO2 Layer thickness [nm]

Simulation with single layer. Mesh is adapted at layers lower than 20 nm. Minimum layer thickness 2.5 nm. In Comsol, Solid mechanics and shells are combined.

Q factor

Frequency Straight resonator

56400000 56200000 56000000
Frequency [Hz]

55800000 55600000 55400000 55200000 55000000 0 20 40 60 SiO2 Layer thickness [nm]

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Squeezed film effect including stress

Q-factor compared with measurements KIM
Q > 40000 at appropriate conditions Sliding effect on large surface negligable Q-factor is slightly dependant on mesh size of the surface where the film damping is applied.

100000

Q-factor

10000

Q-factor 12nm Q-factor 20nm KIM 1000 10 100 1000 Pressure [Pa] NXP 10000 100000

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Overview: Influence of Polyamide Capping above resonator

Q factor and Capping stress, Polyimide only
100,000,000
-10 MPa

10,000,000 UnderEtch 5.4 [m] UnderEtch 1.4 [m]

10MPa 31 MPa -100 MPa

Q-factor

1,000,000

100,000

100 MPa

10,000 -30.00 -20.00 -10.00 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00

Frequency shift [ppm]

Permanent frequency shifts: 20 ppm Well within specs.

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Conclusion
Production steps in CMOS technlogy have their own influence on the performance of the resonator. COMSOL paved the way to better understanding to control specs in production. (Q-factor, dimensions, stress and material loss factors) MEMS module was used together with the mechanical module.
Prestressed Analysis, eigenfrequency Prestressed Analysis, frequency domain. Heat module, Squeezed film and much more.

Thanks to Dr. H van de Vlist (NXP, Nijmegen) Dr. J. van Beek (NXP, Eindhoven)
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