Efficient Anchor Design for Quality Factor Enhancement in a Silicon Nitride-on-Silicon Lateral Bulk Mode Resonator

U. Rawat[1], A. DasGupta[1], D. R. Nair[1], V. V. Pasula[1]
[1]Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Published in 2013

Anchor loss causes a reduction in the quality factor of high frequency micromechanical resonators. This study illustrates the importance of anchor design in mitigating anchor loss in high frequency resonators. The performances of two different anchor configurations for a silicon nitride-on-silicon lateral mode bar resonator have been compared using simulations performed in COMSOL Multiphysics®. The simulations were performed using sections of the structures rather than the entire structures and symmetry boundary conditions were applied to the respective edges. The two configurations were compared for anchor losses. Less power is leaked through the anchors into the substrate in the second design, which means a higher quality factor for the MEMS resonator.