MEMS-Based Quartz Resonators

SPEAKER: Dr. Randall L. Kubena
HRL Laboratories, LLC.
Malibu, Ca. 90265

ABSTRACT:
It is widely known that the resonator elements in many communication, clock, and frequency-based systems determine the short-term accuracy, power requirements, noise, channel selectivity, and size of the overall unit. Most commercial and military satellites, GPS units, and communication systems currently rely on quartz resonators for their mechanical frequency standard due to their proven long term stability, high Q, and low temperature sensitivity. However, present quartz oscillators are manufactured as fairly large discrete units. I will present our work on developing a new MEMS-based approach to quartz resonator fabrication in which the resonators can be integrated with on-chip electrical components and vacuum packaged at wafer level. I will describe the essential features of the fabrication process, new high Q designs, 3-D modal, admittance, and thermal simulations, recent test data, tuning techniques, and some future goals.

BIO:
Randall L. Kubena received a B.S. degree in physics and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Physics all from the California Institute of Technology in 1973, 1974, and 1978, respectively. He joined the Hughes Research Laboratories (now HRL) in 1978 where he was a co-developer of sub-micron focused-ion-beam technology that is now widely used in the semiconductor industry. He has also been active in the fields of ion source physics, charge particle beam optics, beam-assisted surface science, nanofabrication, quantum device fabrication, and since 1993, MEMS development for GM, Raytheon, and Boeing. He has served as the program manager for numerous government contracts and is currently functioning both as the manager of the MEMS Sensors Department and as a Principle Scientist at HRL. He is also the Principle Investigator of HRL’s on-going NanoMechanical Array Signal Processor DARPA program. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the International Conference on Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology & Nanofabrication and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Microlithography, Microfabrication, and Microsystems.