State-of-the-Art Timing References Using MEMS Resonators

For decades, resonating quartz crystals have been used as precision timing references in electronic devices. Even if a device doesn't tell you the time, it still requires a timing reference for the digital circuits. Tear apart any cell phone, digital camera, tablet, or laptop, and you will find several quartz crystal-based timing devices (resonators, oscillators, or clock generators). In fact, worldwide sales of quartz crystal-based timing devices are several billion dollars per year! However, quartz crystals are increasingly being replaced by silicon micro-electromechanical (MEMS) resonators. These amazing tiny machines, smaller than a human hair, are being used as the building blocks for timing references accurate to better than 100 parts-per-billion, or the equivalent of 2 seconds per year. SiTime Corporation, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is leading the silicon timing revolution with its game-changing MEMS timing solutions. To date, SiTime has shipped over 150 million devices to over 800 different customers worldwide.

Dr. Carl Arft has been active in the MEMS field for over 15 years, both in academia and at several Silicon Valley start-up
companies. He is currently the Director of Technology Development at SiTime Corporation, the world's leading supplier of MEMS-based timing devices. From 2004"“2006, he served as Faculty Fellow at the University of California, Davis. Previously, he was
involved with several optical MEMS start-up companies, including C Speed Corporation and Newport Opticom.
Carl received the BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Tech University, and the MS and PhD degrees in Electrical
Engineering from University of California, Davis.