Vertical MEMS resonators for real-time clock applications

Mems resonators are today widely investigated as a desirable alternative to quartz resonators in real-time clock applications,because of their low-cost,integration capability properties. nevertheless,mems resonators performances are still not competitive,especially in terms of frequency stability and device equivalent resistance (and,then,power consumption). we propose a new structure for a mems resonator,with a vertical-like transduction mechanism,which exhibits promising features. the vertical resonator can be fabricated with the low-cost,high performance thelma technology,and it is designed to be efficiently frequency tunable. with respect to the commonly investigated lateral resonators,it is expected to have lower equivalent resistances and improved large-scale repeatability characteristics. copyright © 2010 a. pomarico et al.