The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a plurality of mechanical resonators in a manufacturing wafer, the resonators being intended to equip a regulating member of a timepiece, the method comprising the following steps: (a) fabricating a plurality of resonators in at least one wafer according to reference specifications; (b) measuring the actual frequency of each of the plurality of resonators; (c) determining the offset of the actual frequency of the resonators with respect to the reference specifications; and (d) applying on at least one of the resonators at least two masses from a series of tuning masses to compensate the offset of the concerning resonator to bring the resonator closer to the reference specifications.

The present description concerns a clock signal generation device (902) comprising: a microelectromechanical resonant element (504); and at least one nanoelectromechanical transduction element (512).

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.

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 invention relates to a microelectromechanical resonator device comprising a support structure and a semiconductor resonator plate doped to a doping concentration with an n-type doping agent and being capable of resonating in a width-extensional resonance mode. In addition, there is at least one anchor suspending the resonator plate to the support structure and an actuator for exciting the width-extensional resonance mode into the resonator plate. According to the invention, the resonator plate is doped to a doping concentration of 1.2*10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or more and has a shape which, in combination with said doping concentration and in said width-extensional resonance mode, provides the second order temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF.sub.2) to be 12 ppb/C.sup.2 or less at least at one temperature. Several practical implementations are presented.

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.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to acoustically decoupled microelectromechanical system devices and, more particularly, to acoustically decoupled microelectromechanical system devices anchored upon phononic crystals. In some embodiments described herein, a device may comprise a resonator, a handle layer, and a pedestal disposed between the resonator and the handle layer, the pedestal connecting the resonator to the handle layer. In the devices described herein, the resonator and the handle layer may be non-coplanar. In some embodiments, the handle layer comprises a phononic crystal to acoustically decouple the resonator from the substrate of the handle layer.

Micro-machined acoustic and ultrasonic transducer (MAUT), particularly piezoelectric MAUT (PMAUT), performance tradeoffs have meant reasonable pixel depth resolution necessitated low quality factor (Q) transducers with power distributed over a large bandwidth yielding modest imaging ranges whilst high-Q transducers providing higher acoustic power output for longer imaging ranges exhibit extended ringing limiting pixel depth information. Accordingly, the inventors have established MAUTs supporting high-Q transducers for long-range high-resolution imaging by integrating electromechanical actuators (dampers) which can be selectively engaged to mechanically damped the MAUT. In several applications PMAUT arrays are required where all transducer elements should have almost identical resonant frequencies. However, prior art fabrication processes have tended to produce PMAUTs with large inter-chip and inter-wafer variances. Prior art methodologies to reduce inter-wafer process variations do not address intra-wafer or inter-chip process variations and accordingly the inventors have established manufacturing methodologies and design solutions to address these for the PMAUT resonant frequency.

A sensor comprising a resonator structure arranged for resonating along a first plane; and at least one sensing electrode arranged on a second plane parallel to said first plane at a predetermined distance of said resonator structure along a direction normal to said first plane.