Mina Rais-Zadeh

Effect of phonon interactions on limiting the f.Q product of micromechanical resonators

We discuss the contribution of phonon interactions in determining the upper limit of f.Q product in micromechanical resonators. There is a perception in the MEMS community that the maximum f.Q product of a microresonator is limited to a “frequency-independent constant” determined by the material properties of the resonator [1]. In this paper, we discuss that for frequencies higher than ωτ= 1/τ, where τ is the phonon relaxation time, the f.Q product is no longer constant but a linear function of frequency. This makes it possible to reach very high Qs in GHz micromechanical resonators. Moreover, we show that 〈100〉 is the preferred crystalline orientation for obtaining very high Q in bulk-acoustic-mode silicon resonators above ∼750 MHz, while 〈100〉 is the preferred direction for achieving high-Q at lower frequencies.

Gallium Nitride as an Electromechanical Material

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a wide bandgap semiconductor material and is the most popular material after silicon in the semiconductor industry. The prime movers behind this trend are LEDs, microwave, and more recently, power electronics. New areas of research also include spintronics and nanoribbon transistors, which leverage some of the unique properties of GaN. GaN has electron mobility comparable with silicon, but with a bandgap that is three times larger, making it an excellent candidate for high-power applications and high-temperature operation. The ability to form thin-AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, which exhibit the 2-D electron gas phenomenon leads to high-electron mobility transistors, which exhibit high Johnsons figure of merit. Another interesting direction for GaN research, which is largely unexplored, is GaN-based micromechanical devices or GaN microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). To fully unlock the potential of GaN and realize new advanced all-GaN integrated circuits, it is essential to cointegrate passive devices (such as resonators and filters), sensors (such as temperature and gas sensors), and other more than Moore functional devices with GaN active electronics. Therefore, there is a growing interest in the use of GaN as a mechanical material. This paper reviews the electromechanical, thermal, acoustic, and piezoelectric properties of GaN, and describes the working principle of some of the reported high-performance GaN-based microelectromechanical components. It also provides an outlook for possible research directions in GaN MEMS.

A High-Performance Continuously Tunable MEMS Bandpass Filter at 1 GHz

This paper reports a continuously tunable lumped bandpass filter implemented in a third-order coupled resonator configuration. The filter is fabricated on a Borosilicate glass substrate using a surface micromachining technology that offers hightunable passive components. Continuous electrostatic tuning is achieved using three tunable capacitor banks, each consisting of one continuously tunable capacitor and three switched capacitors with pull-in voltage of less than 40 V. The center frequency of the filter is tuned from 1 GHz down to 600 MHz while maintaining a 3-dB bandwidth of 13%-14% and insertion loss of less than 4 dB. The maximum group delay is less than 10 ns across the entire tuning range. The temperature stability of the center frequency from -50°C to 50°C is better than 2%. The measured tuning speed of the filter is better than 80 s, and the is better than 20 dBm, which are in good agreement with simulations. The filter occupies a small size of less than 1.5 cm × 1.1 cm. The implemented filter shows the highest performance amongst the fully integrated microelectromechanical systems filters operating at sub-gigahertz range.

RF switches using phase change materials

Phase change materials are attractive candidates for use in ohmic switches as they can be thermally transitioned between amorphous and crystalline states, showing several orders of magnitude change in resistivity. Phase change switches are fast, small form factor, and can be readily integrated with MEMS and CMOS electronics. As such, they have a great potential for implementing next-generation high-speed reconfigurable RF modules. In this paper, we report on the RF properties of germanium tellurium, a PC material, and its use in RF switching applications. Intrinsic resistance and capacitance at the ON (crystalline) and OFF (amorphous) states of a directly heated switch are compared and characterized. Other properties such as phase transition conditions, insertion loss, return loss, and power handling capability of the switch are also measured and analyzed.

Miniaturized UWB Filters Integrated With Tunable Notch Filters Using a Silicon-Based Integrated Passive Device Technology

This paper reports on the implementation of miniaturized ultra-wideband filters integrated with tunable notch filters using a silicon-based integrated passive device technology. An ultra-wideband bandpass filter is realized on a micromachined silicon substrate, showing an insertion loss of 1.1 dB, return loss of better than 15 dB, and attenuation of more than 30 dB at both lower and upper stop-bands, with a spurious-free response up to 40 GHz. The filter occupies only 2.9 mm 2.4 mm of die area. To address the in-band interference issues associated with ultra-wideband communication, very compact tunable notch filters are monolithically integrated with the bandpass filters. A two-pole tunable notch filter integrated with an ultra-wideband filter provides more than 20 dB rejection in the 5-6 GHz range to reject U-NII interferences, with a total footprint of 4.8 mm 2.9 mm. The power handling, linearity, and temperature stability of filters are characterized and presented in this paper.

MEMS Switched Tunable Inductors

This paper presents a new implementation of integrated tunable inductors using mutual inductances activated by micromechanical switches. To achieve a large tuning range and a high quality factor, silver was used as the structural material, and silicon was selectively removed from the backside of the substrate. Using this method, a maximum tuning of 47% at 6 GHz is achieved for a 1.1 nH silver inductor fabricated on a low-loss polymer membrane. The effect of the quality factor on the tuning characteristic of the inductor is investigated by comparing the measured result of identical inductors fabricated on various substrates. To maintain the quality factor of the silver inductor, the device was encapsulated using a low-cost wafer-level polymer packaging technique.

Gallium nitride-on-silicon micromechanical overtone resonators and filters

In this paper, for the first time, we report on high-performance GaN-on-silicon micromechanical resonators and filters. A GaN-on-silicon resonator is reported which exhibits a quality factor of 1850 at 802.5 MHz, resulting in an f×Q value twice the highest reported for GaN-based resonators to date. The effective coupling coefficient for the GaN resonator is extracted to be 1.7%, which is among the best reported in the literature.

A Thickness-Mode AlGaN/GaN Resonant Body High Electron Mobility Transistor

A multigigahertz AlGaN/GaN resonant body transistor (RBT) is reported, wherein the mechanical resonance and electrical signal modulation are achieved simultaneously. A 175-Å-thick AlGaN layer is used as the piezoelectric transduction layer, and the 2-D electron gas present at the AlGaN/GaN interface is employed as the bottom electrode as well as the transistor conducting channel. The carrier concentration of the channel is modulated when the device undergoes acoustic strain. A quality factor of 250 and acoustic transconductance of 25 μS is achieved at resonance frequency of 4.23 GHz, marking the highest frequency and highest transconductance reported to date for GaN-based RBTs. The frequency×Q of this device is among the best reported for GaN-based resonators.

Piezoelectrically Transduced Temperature-Compensated Flexural-Mode Silicon Resonators

In this paper, we explore the piezoelectric transduction of in-plane flexural-mode silicon resonators with a center frequency in the range of 1.3-1.6 MHz. A novel technique utilizing oxide-refilled trenches is implemented to achieve efficient temperature compensation. These trenches are encapsulated within the silicon resonator body so as to protect them during the device release process. By using this method, we demonstrate a high-Q (> 19 000) resonator having a low temperature coefficient of frequency of <; 2 ppm/°C and a turnover temperature of around 90 °C, ideally suited for use in an ovenized platform. Using electrostatic tuning, the temperature sensitivity of the resonator is compensated across a temperature range of +50 °C to +85 °C, demonstrating a frequency instability of less than 1 ppm. Using proportional feedback control on the applied electrostatic potential, the resonator frequency drift is reduced to less than 110 ppb during 1 h of continuous operation, indicating the ultimate stability that can be achieved for the resonator as a timing reference. The resonators show no visible distortion up to -1 dBm of input power, indicating their power handling capability.

Uncooled Infrared Detectors Using Gallium Nitride on Silicon Micromechanical Resonators

This paper presents the analysis, design, fabrication, and the first measured results demonstrating the use of gallium nitride (GaN)-based micromechanical resonator arrays as high-sensitivity, low-noise infrared (IR) detectors. The IR sensing mechanism is based on monitoring the change in the resonance frequency of the resonators upon near IR radiation. The resonators are characterized for their RF and thermal performance and exhibit a radiant responsivity of 1.68%/W, thermal time constant on the order of 556 μs, and an average IR responsivity of -1.5% when compared with a reference resonator, for a 100 mK radiation-induced temperature rise. An analysis of the design of the devices is presented as a path toward better design, specifically, for low thermal noise equivalent temperature difference in the long wavelength IR spectrum.