Robert Rhodes

Final Cmpe 185

Introduction: With the increased demand for smaller portable cellular and other rf

devices, the need for correspondingly smaller components has increased. A possible

solution to the problem of finding such components lies in the field of rf mems design.

Various rf components including phase shifters, switches, and oscillators may be

implemented with mems and made to work at the microscopic scale. A device of

particular interest for the purposes of this paper is the mems version of the crystal

oscillator. Recent work has led to the development of implementing rf oscillators (and

electronic oscillators in general) with mems based devices and manufacturing methods.

These mems oscillators provide better thermal hysteresis and aging characteristics than

discrete quartz -based parts at comparable prices [1]. Now we will explore the amazing

research, technologies, and applications resulting from rf mems oscillators.

As rf applications of this generation of oscillators will be the primary focus of this

paper, it would be prudent to begin with an overview of rf systems and then turn attention

to the workings of some crucial components such as the oscillator. Then sufficient

background for appreciating mems applications in rf will be realizable.

The radio will serve as an example since all rf systems are in some form or

another a radio (transmitter, receiver, or transceiver). For simplicity, AM de/modulation

will be considered. To begin, one assumes that an rf system is modeled as a single

module like the diagram in Fig. 1

Single module system

In Out
 Fig. 1 single module system block diagram

Furthermore, assume that two in signals enter into this system and that two out

signals exit it. Let one of the input signals be denoted as x(t) and the other as w(t) while

the output signals are z(t) and y(t) where t represents the time dependence of these

signals. The desired operation of the above module is to take the input signals and

produce two new signals although in general there will be more than two output signals

most of which can be attenuated by an appropriate filter network. The process that

produces these signals will be a non linear process.

Thus for signals described by:

∑f
i =0
i = x j (t )

The output is:

x j (t ) ⊗x j ±1 (t ) ≠ F ( x j + x j +1 )

Where x is a generic signal and fi is the frequency of the ith term or component of

the signal. F( ) represents the Fourier transform(frequency spectrum) of the signal and

⊗denotes the operation of mixing which is equivalent to taking the product of the

individual transforms of the two signals(i.e. this should not be confused with audio

mixing where the two signals are added instead of multiplied)

The system response to these inputs will ensure that the mixed output will contain

frequencies (fi ) not present in the frequency spectrum of either input signal which a plot

of the frequency spectra of the input will show when contrasted against the mixed output.

Applying Fourier analysis to the system again and assuming ( as is the case) the signals
may be represented as the sum (or integral) of singular frequency signals, the following

result can be derived.

i.e. if the signals may be represented as:

∞ ∞ ∞

∑cos( ωi t ) + j sin( ωi t ) and

i =0
∑cos( ωk t ) + j sin( ωk t ) or
i =0
∫e
0
ωi jt
and

∫e
jt ωk

(Where e is the sum of cos and sines)

Then multiplication of any two sines or cosines of frequencies ωi , ωk yields:

1
sin( ωi t ) • sin( ωk t ) = • (cos{ ωi + ωk }t + cos{ ωi − ωk }t )
2

This follows from:

cos( ωi + ωk )t = cos( ωi ) cos( ωk ) − sin( ωi ) sin( ωk )

Since sines differ from cosines only be a phase delay, the above results

state that for any two incoming sinusoidal or cosinusoidal components of two different or

similar frequencies, the mixed output will consist of at least two signals one having

frequency being the sum of the two signal frequencies and one having frequency being

the difference of the two. Other higher order products as well as the original signals will

also server as output but are usually not of interest and thus are dealt with in kind. This is

the premise of AM modulation which may be done by means other than mixing such as

the regenerative method; however regeneration still produces an envelope and so

essentially accomplishes the same task with simpler implementation and corresponding
disadvantages. Despite the method, the two sums and difference signals form a

modulation envelope which moves as a time varying signal with group velocity vg. The

information of the original signal is to be found in these two envelopes as when they are

unmixed or demodulated, another sum and difference pair is produced namely:

ωi + ωk + (ωi − ωk ) = 2ωi ,
ωi + ωk − (ωi − ωk ) = 2ωk

Which are frequencies multiples of the transmitted signals. Referring to Fig. 2

it becomes clear that the bandwidth of demodulated signal will range between

these two frequencies and thus the spectrum of the signal may be suitably modified with

hardware to achieve the desired effect.

Turning to the subject of hardware, it is now time to consider the source of the

input signals that enter the two port single module system. One source will be from a

device producing the signal and information to be transmitted and the other will be from

a fixed frequency periodic device that will server as a carrier for that data. In many cases,

this fixed frequency periodic signal is generated by an oscillator.

 Oscillators may be of a single unchangeable frequency or they may be tuned to

oscillate at a particular frequency. Regardless of which oscillator is considered, it must

oscillate at a particular frequency for some length of time.

There are two main criteria that must be satisfied for electronic oscillation in

circuits to occur. A signal must experience some net gain greater than and later equal to 1

and the signal must be fed back for more amplification. The second condition is that the

feed back signal must encounter a 360◦ phase shift so as to return in phase and provide

positive feedback. Non linearities that develop as the amplifier output approaches its limit

normally cause the oscillator to reach a stable amplitude oscillation.

Starting of the oscillation may occur in various ways but mainly by means of two.

Transients at start up are one method since they cause some initial small oscillations

which are amplified and allowed to receive positive feedback. Noise start up is another

method and the one most concerning this paper. This method relies on filtering the

thermal noise generated in the amplifier so that these fluctuations will be filtered down to

a signal of a singular frequency component. The initial noise output is filtered then fed

back into the amplifier input to be amplified again and re-filtered. This continues until the

above mentioned non linearities take effect.

 The tuned filter network may consist of discrete passive reactive elements such

as ceramic, electrolytic, or mica capacitors in conjunction with an inductor and/or resistor

of some sort. Another option is to use a piezo electric quartz resonator. These devices

consist of a crystal that has been shaped so as to resonate at a particular frequency. When

the crystal receives a signal, it deforms due to electro restriction. The crystal later regains

its original form and in doing so generates piezo electricity in response to the applied

physical stress. This deformation and relaxation occurs at a particular frequency causing

the device to oscillate. A signal of more precise frequency is output and can serve as a

stable fixed frequency which is less affected by temperature. Thermal hysterisis is

hysterisis( a requirement that the path to the current configuration be known to attain the

next configuration) that corresponds to configurations generated by the thermal noise.

This oscillator is less succeptible to temperature and thus has a more tractable hysterisis

characteristic. This type of oscillator is an electrical to mechanical to electrical

transducer.
 Transducers are devices that couple energy from one form to another. They are a

core component to any mems system especially an rf mems system and their mems

oscillators.

The principles of feedback and amplification that hold for oscillation of electronic

signals outside the domain of mems hold for mems as well; the major difference is that

the implementation of feedback and initial input are now different. A few notable

implementations and applications of these oscillators will now be discussed

The first example comes from the work of Zalalutdinov et al [2] in regards to an rf

mems oscillator for use in an rf mems phase and frequency modulator. The oscillator is

thermally actuated via the heat generated within a heating element from the current

through it. The transducer used is a circular membrane than is capable of deforming like a

drum head due to heat exposure ( not quite like a bi metallic strip but still a property of

thermal deformation); thus deflection out of the plane of the circle results. The heat

induces this thermal property in the circular membrane. The resulting movement is

detected by a HeNe(Helium-Neon) laser which when used in conjunction with the

membrane and other structures in the device as an interferometer which will detect the

interference patterns produced by the interaction of the laser and the changing gap width

between the aforementioned structures. The detected pattern is associated with an output

signal from the oscillator. This output is amplified and sent through a feedback network.

A dc bias( which may be shifted so that the device supplying it will operate at different

bias/Q points) will be superimposed on the feedback signal. Steady oscillation results

after the non linearities associated with the mechanical motion such as not being capable

of infinite amplitude, take effect. Applying the correct bias will cause the heating element
to generate heat such that the membrane’s mechanical properties change and its resonant

frequency along with it and thus the oscillator can be detuned and reset.

Fig. 4

One such application as realized by myself and actually stated by Zalalutdinov et

al is the use of such a tunable oscillator in a more compact phased array like those used

to electronically steer antenna patterns so as to achieve the same result as if some one

were actually adjusting the antenna array by hand. The use of a tunable mems based

oscillator would allow the production a frequency that varies with the bias. This would be

analogous to using a delay line array as seen in Fig 4. this will provide a delay of the

signals arriving at each of its inputs. The phase difference between the signals causes the

transmission or reception pattern of the array to shift or rotate once the signals from each

array output are added together. This method is suited towards larger systems like radar

systems and could be implement for smaller devices by a mems based oscillator which

with proper additions, could not only scale down the size of such an array but also

provide for (automatic) continuous adjusts of the antenna direction based on signal

strength in any particular direction.

 Fig 4 courtesy of wikimedia.org

Also, as a high quality factor (sharp resonance) tunable frequency source that can

be included into ic manufacturing methods, this oscillator serves a good candidate for

developing radio on chip communication systems.

The next implementation that illustrates the usefulness of mems based oscillators

to rf comes from the work of Kubena et al [3]. Although mems based technology can

allow the production of much smaller systems at higher frequencies, quartz still has some

desirable properties. Among these properties are its status as a low loss high Q

piezoelectric material with zero temperature coefficient for certain crystal cuts( cuts of

the crystal along a plane with a given orientation in the lattice). Also, the chemical

inertness of its surface prevents any undesired reactions from inadvertently changing the

behavior of the oscillator. With this in mind, Kubena et al sought to develop a mems

based quartz oscillator. More specifically, since current methods of producing quartz

resonators do not facilitate scaling them down, they wanted to provide a more straight

forward method of producing scaled down quartz oscillators that would work well with rf
electronics. Taking advantage of recent advances in mems micro fabrication processes

such as precision wafer bonding and plasma etching, the group achieved benefits they

wanted with the size required.

In contrast to its discrete counterpart, this mems based device provides the

desirable properties of a quartz oscillator with the UHF-VHF performance required for

modern communications such as programmable radios and GPS.

Fig. 5 courtesy of Kubena et al.

On the left, Fig. 5 displays the completed resonator part of the mems resonator

which can be interfaced with rf electronics, such as amplifiers, to complete the mems

based oscillator. On the right is a completed view of a filtering network for the oscillator.

Both photographs were taken using a scanning electron microscope.

 Although rf mems in general is still somewhat exotic, rf mems are receiving

notice from the military. NASA is qualifying rf mems oscillators for its space exploration

missions.[4] Of particular interest are the applications of such oscillators and other rf

components for use in communications during space walks and for deep space probes

since the mems longevity matches those required for such probes venturing to the

beyond. Another drawing factor to rf mems being used in such probes, according to

Aaron Partridge the chief technology officer at SiTime, is their “…insensitivity to the

radiation and extreme temperatures of space."[5]

The private sector has also shown interest. Companies like Discera Silicon Clocks

have gone into production of on chip resonators. SiTime Inc already makes mems

oscillators that operate at 125 MHz . Rf mems components will develop systems that will

allow the integrating of the DCS, PCS, GSM, EGSM,CDMA, WCDMA, GPS, and

Wi-Fi bands or standards while progressively reducing the size of

handsets and maintaining battery life.[4]

Conclusions:

Rf mems oscillators are providing great solutions for the

problem of scaling down rf systems. They will allow the

development of systems small enough to place on a single chip

and will be integrated into systems of mind boggling complexity

and compactness. Hopefully, with developments in the field of

Nems( nano electromechanical systems) rf Nems will become a

prominent successor to rf mems and provide us with even more

fine tuned devices. Until then, mems can only continue to

develop and prosper.

Works cited:
 [1]Courtney Dimpel,"Mems oscillators mark the beginning of the end for quartz",

Hearst Electronic Products, 2007

[2] Reichenbach,R.B; Aubin, D.L; Zalalutdinov, M: Parpia, J.M; Craighead, H.G;

"A Microsystems.2005. Digest of Techical Papers. TRANSDUCERS '05 The 13th

international Conference on Vol 1, pp 1059-1062

[3]R.L. Kubena, F.P. Strtton, D.T. Chang, R.J.Joyce,T.Y. Hsu, M.K. Lim,and R.T.M

Closkey "Mems-Based Quartz oscillators and filters for on chip intergration"

HRL Laboratories(Kubenal et al) UCLA (Kim and Closkey)2005

[4]Kamaljeet Singh and K. Nagachenchiah"RF MEMS: MaturingTechnology is

GettingReady for Prime Time" High Frequency Electronics, August 2008

[5] R. Colin Johnson "Mems finds niche in space exploration"EETimes Asia,2007

commons.wikimedia.org for phased array image.