Doubly rotated contoured quartz resonators.

Abstract

Doubly rotated contoured quartz resonators are used in the design of temperature-compensated stable clocks and dual-mode sensors for simultaneous measurements of pressure and temperature. The design of these devices is facilitated by models that can predict frequency spectra associated with the three thickness modes and temperature and stress-induced frequency changes as a function of crystalline orientation. The Stevens-Tiersten technique for the analysis of the C-mode of a doubly rotated contoured quartz resonator is extended to include the other two thickness modes. Computational results for harmonic and anharmonic overtones of all three thickness modes of such resonators help in optimizing the radius of curvature of the contour and electrode shape for suppression of unwanted modes and prevention of activity dips. The temperature and stress-induced changes in thickness-mode resonator frequencies are calculated from a perturbation technique for small dynamic fields superposed on a static bias. The static bias refers to either a temperature or stress-induced static deformation of the resonator plate. Phenomenological models are also used for calculating the temperature and stress-induced changes in resonant frequencies as a function of crystalline orientation. Results for the SBTC-cut quartz plate with a spherical convex contour of 260 mm indicate that normal trapping occurs for the third (n = 3) and fifth (n = 5) harmonic of the A-mode, the fundamental (n = 1) and third (n = 3) harmonic of the B-mode, and the fundamental (n = 1) and fifth (n = 5) harmonic of the C-mode.