Abstract
Thermal-piezoresistive pumping is a thermoelectromechanical feedback mechanism used to tune micro- and nanomechanical resonators, simplifying signal amplification in resonant force sensors and oscillators. The authors present a generalizable model that predicts the effective quality-factor tuning due to pumping for micromechanical resonators of varying device geometry, orientation, and material composition. They also find that current models for silicon's piezoresistivity diverge from experiment as doping increases. Their work will help to optimize piezoresistive devices for different operating temperatures, reduced power usage, and higher oscillation frequency.
Highlights
Microelectromechanical (MEM) and nanoelectromechanical (NEM) resonators underlie many sensors and oscillators used within academic research and technology, such as atomic-force microscopes [1], inertial sensors [2], timing references [3], and filters [4]
We observe that after incorporation of the theoretical Kanda model to account for the doping and temperature dependence of the piezoresistance, our simulations still deviate from the measurement results
The simulations overestimate the variation of Qeff at higher Idc for moderately doped devices while underestimating the Qeff variation for highly doped devices. We initially attributed this discrepancy to the temperature dependence of the damping or other material properties, but follow-up finite-element simulations have indicated that thermoelastic dissipation and resistivity only have a minor effect on thermal pumping
Summary
Microelectromechanical (MEM) and nanoelectromechanical (NEM) resonators underlie many sensors and oscillators used within academic research and technology, such as atomic-force microscopes [1], inertial sensors [2], timing references [3], and filters [4]. Thermal pumping has been demonstrated in a variety of geometries fabricated from a variety of substrates, including silicon [31,32,33,34], group III–V semiconductors [35], and even complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-MEM devices [36] It can be incorporated into conventional fabrication processes with minimal change to process flow and its implementation within sensors or oscillators does not require sophisticated external control electronics. Thermal pumping may enable Qeff tuning in handheld electronics, gigahertz frequency oscillators with submicrowatt power consumption, and in-cryostat signal generation for quantum computers. Heating strongly influences thermal pumping Qeff behavior with direct current and confirms this behavior with a generalizable model that accounts for the doping and temperature dependence of the piezoresistivity
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