Self-Aligned 1.14-GHz Vibrating Radial-Mode Disk Resonator

Graduate Student
EECS Dept.
University of Michigan
ABSTRACT:
A new fabrication methodology that allows self-alignment of a micromechanical structure to its anchor(s) has been utilized to achieve vibrating radial-contour mode micromechanical disk resonators with record resonance frequencies up to 1.14 GHz and measured Q's at this frequency >1,500 in both vacuum and air. In addition, 733-MHz versions have been demonstrated with Q's of 7,330 and 6,100 in vacuum and air, respectively. For these resonators, self-alignment of the stem to exactly the center of the disk it supports allows balancing of the resonator far superior to that achieved by previous versions (where separate masks were used to define the disk and stem), allowing the present devices to retain high Q while achieving frequencies in the GHz range for the first time. In addition, the use of more rugged polysilicon electrodes (as opposed to the malleable metal used in previous disks) greatly improves the yield of these devices, and the introduction of a substrate ground plane greatly facilitates the measurement of their UHF frequency characteristics.

BIO:
Jing Wang was born in Beijing, China in 1975. He received two B.S. Degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and the other in Mechanical Engineering, from Tsinghua University in 1999. During his undergraduate career, he interned at Microsoft and various other companies, where he participated in the development of simulation software for automatic guided vehicle systems and device net configurations. He enrolled in The University of Michigan in September 1999, receiving a fellowship from the Mechanical Engineering Department. He then transferred to the Ph.D. program in Electrical Engineering with a major in Circuits and Microsystems and a minor in Systems and Control. He got two Master Degrees from University of Michigan, one from Electrical Engineering, the other from Mechanical Engineering. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. at Electrical Engineering Department. He expects to receive his Ph.D. in August 2004.