In-Chip Device-Layer Thermal Isolation of MEMS Resonator for Lower Power Budget

Abstract

This paper presents a thermally isolated ovenized design of MEMS resonator. Ovenization (joule heating) is done to compensate for the temperature dependence of resonator frequency. An ovenized resonator has a stable frequency over a wide temperature range of -40°C to 85°C. However, the ovenized designs lead to power consumption because of joule heating. It is therefore necessary to thermally isolate the device in order to reduce the power consumption. In this paper, we demonstrate an in-chip thermal isolation and heat delivery within the device layer of the silicon resonator that reduces the power requirement without compromising on the overall performance of the device. A power consumption of 12mW for an ovenized MEMS resonator, built within a wafer-scale encapsulation process, is reported here.