High-Q HF microelectromechanical filters

TLDR

The filters consist of two clamped‑clamped beam resonators linked by a soft flexural‑mode spring, with center frequency set by the resonators, bandwidth controlled by spring dimensions and placement, quarter‑wavelength coupling to mitigate mass loading, and a design methodology that models the device with electromechanical analogies and equivalent electrical circuits. The fabricated filters achieve center frequencies near 8 MHz with Q values from 40 to 450, percent bandwidths of 0.23 % to 2.5 %, insertion losses below 2 dB, and spurious‑free dynamic ranges around 78 dB, demonstrating that high‑Q resonators and low‑velocity spring designs can deliver IC‑compatible IF filters with Qs in the hundreds.

Abstract

IC-compatible microelectromechanical intermediate frequency filters using integrated resonators with Q's in the thousands to achieve filter Q's in the hundreds have been demonstrated using a polysilicon surface micromachining technology. These filters are composed of two clamped-clamped beam micromechanical resonators coupled by a soft flexural-mode mechanical spring. The center frequency of a given filter is determined by the resonance frequency of the constituent resonators, while the bandwidth is determined by the coupling spring dimensions and its location between the resonators. Quarter-wavelength coupling is required on this microscale to alleviate mass loading effects caused by similar resonator and coupler dimensions. Despite constraints arising from quarter-wavelength design, a range of percent bandwidths is still attainable by taking advantage of low-velocity spring attachment locations. A complete design procedure is presented in which electromechanical analogies are used to model the mechanical device via equivalent electrical circuits. Filter center frequencies around 8 MHz with Q's from 40 to 450 (i.e., percent bandwidths from 0.23 to 2.5%), associated insertion losses less than 2 dB, and spurious-free dynamic ranges around 78 dB are demonstrated using low-velocity designs with input and output termination resistances of the order of 12 k/spl Omega/.