US 5,914,553 A · Multistable tunable micromechanical resonators

Abstract

A multistable tunable electromicromechanical resonator structure incorporates electrostatic actuators which permit modification of the resonant frequency of the structure. The actuators consist of sets of opposed electrode fingers, each set having a multiplicity of spaced, parallel fingers. One set is mounted on a movable portion of the resonator structure and one set is mounted on an adjacent fixed base or substrate, with the fingers in opposed relationship and their adjacent ends spaced apart by a gap. An adjustable bias voltage across the sets of electrodes adjusts the resonant frequency of the movable structure and shifts the structure to a bistable state. Application of an alternating drive signal drives the structure to chaotic oscillation.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A multistable electromicromechanical resonator, comprising:

a substrate;
a micromechanical beam structure having micron-scale dimensions movable with respect to said substrate along an axis;
spring arms connected between said beam and said substrate, said spring arms and movable beam having a rest position and having a natural resonant frequency;
first and second electrostatic actuators, each actuator having a first set of finger electrodes mounted on said beam for motion with the beam, and each actuator having a second set of finger electrodes fixedly mounted on said substrate, said first and second sets of finger electrodes of each actuator being opposed and non-overlapping to provide a gap therebetween;
a bias voltage connected across each set of electrodes to shift said movable beam from said rest position to one of two stable positions to produce a bistable resonator;
and
a drive signal connected across selected electrodes to produce oscillation of said beam at said one stable position.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Multistable tunable micromechanical resonators

Life of this patent

Multistable tunable micromechanical resonators

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims15