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Non-tilting out-of-plane mode high-Q mechanical silicon oscillator

O Hahtela1,2, N Chekurov1,2 and I Tittonen1,2

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A single-crystal silicon oscillator with a non-tilting out-of-plane vibrational mode and high-quality factor for the mechanical resonance was designed, fabricated and characterized. The finite-element method (FEM) was utilized before the fabrication process to simulate the oscillator behavior and give guidance in optimizing the design. At low pressure p =10−3 mbar and at room temperature, the resonance frequency and Q value were measured to be f0 = 26 526 Hz and Q = 100 000, respectively. The measured resonance frequency was in a good agreement with the simulated one, f0,FEM = 26 787 Hz. The actual mode pattern was verified by measurements and compared with the simulation result. An interferometric laser beam was scanned over the oscillator surface and position-dependent oscillation amplitudes were stored with the phase-sensitive detection. The oscillation was proved to occur effectively in a pure non-tilting out-of-plane mode. We propose to use this kind of micromechanical probe in various measurement schemes, where one needs to approach the surface with a single non-torsional plane. In addition, such an oscillator can be utilized as an optical mirror so that the optical mode can be kept the same when moving the mirror.


PACS

85.85.+j Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices

84.30.Ng Oscillators, pulse generators, and function generators

Subjects

Electronics and devices

Nanoscale science and low-D systems

Dates

Issue 10 (October 2005)

Received 25 April 2005, in final form 23 June 2005

Published 9 August 2005



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