Silicon micromechanical resonator with thick-film printed vibration excitation and detection mechanisms

This paper presents details of the design, fabrication and testing of a mic romechanical silicon beam resonator in which the vibrations are driven and detected by thick-film printed piezoelectric elements. This work has been c arried out to demonstrate the potential for depositing lead zirconate titan ate (PZT) material using a thick-film printing process and combining this a pproach with silicon micromachining processes. The resonator was initially simulated using finite element analysis in order to maximise the degree of mechanical coupling and, therefore, excitation and detection efficiency. St andard micromachining steps and thick-film printing processes have been suc cessfully combined to fabricate the device. The resonator, 2 mm long and 0. 52 mm wide, resonates in air and has a fundamental mode at 56.5 kHz with a e-factor of 70. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.