Discera, Inc.

Micrel, Incorporated

University of Michigan

Soundskrit Inc.

Other

Microchip Technology Inc.

Wan-Thai Hsu

John Ryan Clark

Kenneth R Cioffi

Andrew Robert Brown

James D MacDonald

Sahil Kumar Gupta

Stephane Leahy

Xiangxiang Huang

Didier Lacroix

Guohong He

Clark T C Nguyen

Meysam Daeichin

Carly Stalder

Mohsin Nawaz

Clark T-c Nguyen

Michael J Simoneau

Graham Y Mostyn

John R Clark

Hoyoun Jang

William Cochrane Ingle

Bruce Diamond

A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer includes a substrate and a pair of electrodes supported by the substrate. The pair of electrodes are configured as a bias electrode-sense electrode couple. A moveable electrode of the pair of electrodes is configured for vibrational movement in a first direction during excitation of the moveable electrode. The pair of electrodes are spaced apart from one another by a gap in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The moveable electrode includes a cantilevered end, the cantilevered end being warped to exhibit a resting deflection along the first direction.

MEMS transducer

An electrostatic transducer includes a substrate oriented in a plane, a fixed electrode supported by the substrate, and a moveable electrode supported by the substrate, spaced from the fixed electrode in a first direction parallel to the plane, and configured for movement in a second direction transverse to the plane, such that an extent to which the fixed and moveable electrodes overlap changes during the movement. The fixed and moveable electrodes comprise one or more of a plurality of conductive layers, the plurality of conductive layers including at least three layers. The fixed electrode includes a stacked arrangement of two or more spaced apart conductive layers of the plurality of conductive layers.

Multiple layer electrode transducers

A multiple coil spring MEMS resonator includes a center anchor and a resonator body including two or more coil springs extending in a spiral pattern from the center anchor to an outer closed ring. Each pair of coil springs originates from opposing points on the center anchor and extends in the spiral pattern to opposing points on the outer ring. The number of coil springs, the length and the width of the coil springs and the weight of the outer ring are selected to realize a desired resonant frequency.

Multiple coil spring MEMS resonator

A micromechanical device includes a substrate, a micromechanical structure supported by the substrate and configured for overtone resonant vibration relative to the substrate, and a plurality of electrodes supported by the substrate and spaced from the micromechanical structure by respective gaps. The plurality of electrodes include multiple drive electrodes configured relative to the micromechanical structure to excite the overtone resonant vibration with a differential excitation signal, or multiple sense electrodes configured relative to the micromechanical structure to generate a differential output from the overtone resonant vibration.

Vertical differential resonator

A device includes a substrate, an electrode supported by the substrate, an anchor supported by the substrate, and a composite structure supported by the anchor, disposed adjacent the electrode, and configured for resonant vibration. The composite structure includes an external layer and an internal dielectric region covered by the external layer.

Temperature compensated resonator with a pair of spaced apart internal dielectric layers

A method of configuring a device comprising a MEMS resonator includes initiating operation of the device, estimating a first parameter of the MEMS resonator based on the initiated operation, the first parameter not varying with the bias voltage, monitoring the operation of the device at a plurality of levels of the bias voltage, calculating a second parameter of the MEMS resonator based on the monitored operation, the second parameter varying with the bias voltage, determining an operational level of the bias voltage based on the estimated first parameter and the calculated second parameter, and configuring the device in accordance with the determined operational level of the bias voltage.

Bias voltage tuning of MEMS resonator operation point

A device has a resonator coupled to input and output nodes, the resonator being characterized by a transducer to drive the output node, and further characterized by a feedthrough capacitance such that portions of the input signal bypass the transducer to allow a spurious signal to reach the output node. The device includes a compensation capacitor coupled to the output node to define a compensation capacitance in accordance with the feedthrough capacitance. A phase inversion circuit is coupled to the compensation capacitance to generate a compensation signal and coupled to the output node such that the spurious signal is offset by the compensation signal. In some cases, a differential amplifier of the phase inversion circuit has the compensation capacitance in a feedback path to offset the feedthrough capacitance. In these and other cases, the compensation capacitance and the feedthrough capacitance may be unmatched to avoid overcompensation.

Feedthrough capacitance compensation for resonant devices

Disclosed herein are devices and methods for generating a modulated signal with a MEMS resonator, or microresonator. A bias, or polarization, voltage for activating the MEMS resonator is determined by a control signal, or input voltage, indicative of information to be carried by the modulated signal. In some cases, the MEMS resonator may be driven by an oscillator circuit to facilitate operation of the MEMS resonator. The control signal may include an amplitude modulated voltage or a digital data stream such that output signals of the MEMS resonator or oscillator circuit may carry information via frequency modulation, such as frequency shift keying modulation.

MEMS resonator-based signal modulation

Disclosed herein is a timing device that includes a resonator device to generate a resonator output signal at a frequency offset from a desired frequency, a counter configured to generate an extraction signal in accordance with the frequency offset, and a timing signal generator configured to track time with a count based on the resonator output signal and modified by the extraction signal downward to reach the desired frequency.

Counter-based resonator frequency compensation

A method for modifying the resonance frequency of a micro-mechanical resonator, and resonators on which the method is practiced. A packaged resonator is trimmed by directing electromagnetic energy to the resonator through a transparent portion of the package. The removal of mass (by the energy) affects the resonance frequency of the resonator in a predictable manner. In some embodiments, the energy is sourced from a femtosecond laser. In some variations of the illustrative embodiment, the amount of mass to be removed is determined as a function of its location on the resonator. A mass-trimming map is developed that identifies a plurality of potential mass-trimming sites on the resonator. A site can be classified as a fine-tuning site or a coarse-tuning site as a function of the degree to which mass removal at those sites affects the resonance frequency. The sites can also be characterized as a function of their position relative to features of the resonator (e.g., nodal lines, etc.). Based on a differential between the measured and desired resonance frequency of the resonator, and expressions that relate resonance frequency to location-dependent mass, actual sites for mass removal are selected from among of the plurality of potential mass-trimming sites.

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Saline, MI, United States of America

Wan-Thai Hsu