A Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based ring resonator includes an outer ring which is supported in resilient deformable movement relative to one or more peripherally disposed electrodes by a symmetrically positioned array of radially extending inner spring supports. The inner spring supports extend radially from a central anchor post or support to the inner circumferential edge of the outer ring. The innerspring supports are configured to deformation or regulate movement in outer ring driving and sensing modes.

A resonator includes an anchor, an outer stiffener ring on an outer perimeter of the resonator, and a plurality of curved springs between the anchor and the outer stiffener ring.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to MEMS resonators. An exemplary MEMS resonator comprises a resonator beam having a length and a width. The length can be an integer multiple of the width. The integer multiple can be at least two. The resonator is configured to resonate at a frequency upon application of an input signal. The TCF of this resonator can be made close to zero, thus providing a temperature stable resonator. The exemplary MEMS resonator thereby has the advantages of high Q, low polarization voltage, low motional impedance and temperature stability of low frequency resonators while being able resonate at high frequencies of 30 MHz to 30 GHz.

MEMS based sensors, particularly capacitive sensors, potentially can address critical considerations for users including accuracy, repeatability, long-term stability, ease of calibration, resistance to chemical and physical contaminants, size, packaging, and cost effectiveness. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to exploit MEMS processes that allow for manufacturability and integration of resonator elements into cavities within the MEMS sensor that are at low pressure allowing high quality factor resonators and absolute pressure sensors to be implemented. Embodiments of the invention provide capacitive sensors and MEMS elements that can be implemented directly above silicon CMOS electronics.

The accelerometers disclosed herein provide excellent sensitivity, long-term stability, and low SWaP-C through a combination of photonic integrated circuit technology with standard micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Examples of these accelerometers use optical transduction to improve the scale factor of traditional MEMS resonant accelerometers by accurately measuring the resonant frequencies of very small (e.g., about 1 μm) tethers attached to a large (e.g., about 1 mm) proof mass. Some examples use ring resonators to measure the tether frequencies and some other examples use linear resonators to measure the tether frequencies. Potential commercial applications span a wide range from seismic measurement systems to automotive stability controls to inertial guidance to any other application where chip-scale accelerometers are currently deployed.

MEMS based sensors, particularly capacitive sensors, potentially can address critical considerations for users including accuracy, repeatability, long-term stability, ease of calibration, resistance to chemical and physical contaminants, size, packaging, and cost effectiveness. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to exploit MEMS processes that allow for manufacturability and integration of resonator elements into cavities within the MEMS sensor that are at low pressure allowing high quality factor resonators and absolute pressure sensors to be implemented. Embodiments of the invention provide capacitive sensors and MEMS elements that can be implemented directly above silicon CMOS electronics.

MEMS based sensors, particularly capacitive sensors, potentially can address critical considerations for users including accuracy, repeatability, long-term stability, ease of calibration, resistance to chemical and physical contaminants, size, packaging, and cost effectiveness. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to exploit MEMS processes that allow for manufacturability and integration of resonator elements into cavities within the MEMS sensor that are at low pressure allowing high quality factor resonators and absolute pressure sensors to be implemented. Embodiments of the invention provide capacitive sensors and MEMS elements that can be implemented directly above silicon CMOS electronics.

A silicon microelectromechanical system, MEMS, resonator assembly, includes four flexural beam elements forming a rectangular frame, each beam element being connected at an end thereof to an end of a neighboring one of the beam elements. The resonator assembly further includes connection elements for connecting the rectangular frame to at least one mechanical anchor, and the resonator assembly supporting an in-plane flexural collective resonance mode.

A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-tunable optical ring resonator is described herein. The ring resonator includes a resonator ring and a tuner ring, along with one or more springs. The springs may be internal or external, i.e., either within or outside the areal footprint of the resonator ring and the tuner ring. The one or more springs are configured to displace the tuner ring from the resonator ring by a desired gap based upon a desired resonant wavelength of the resonator ring. Tuning is implemented by applying a voltage to the ring resonator, with motion of the tuner ring causing a corresponding change in the effective index of the resonator ring. As the ring resonator is essentially a capacitive device, it draws very little power once tuning is achieved.

A MEMS device may include: (i) a lower cavity, including a first island, formed within a first layer of the MEMS device; (ii) an upper cavity, including a second island, formed within a second layer of the MEMS device; (iii) a MEMS resonating element arranged in a device layer of the MEMS device and anchored via the first and second islands; (iv) a first set of electrodes for electrostatic actuation and sensing of the MEMS resonating element in an in-plane mode that is arranged in the device layer of the MEMS device; and (v) a second set of electrodes for electrostatic actuation and sensing of the MEMS resonating element in an out-of-plane mode that is electrically isolated from the first set of electrodes and located in the first or second layer of the MEMS device, and wherein the out-of-plane mode is a torsional mode or a saddle mode.