Piezoelectric Bulk Mode Disk Resonator Post-Processed for Enhanced Quality Factor Performance

Abstract

This paper presents a bulk-mode disk resonator utilizing a transverse piezoelectric actuation technique to drive the single crystalline silicon disk structure in its wine-glass bulk mode of resonance. The device is fabricated by post-processing dies from a commercial microelectromechanical systems process and combines high quality factor and relatively low motional resistance. Post-process fabrication steps are used to reduce the width of the anchor beam supports, and consequently reduce the anchor losses. This results in a factor of 3 increase in the quality factor. Post-processed resonators were measured to have resonance frequencies of 23 MHz and quality factors of 13000 in atmospheric pressure, increasing to 31000 in 1 mTorr vacuum. The devices also demonstrate motional resistances of 21 kQ in atmospheric pressure, reducing to 8.8 kQ in 1 mTorr vacuum without requiring any dc voltage for operation.