Multi-Frequency Resonance Behaviour of a Si Fractal NEMS Resonator

Novel Si-based nanosize mechanical resonator has been top-down fabricated. The shape of the resonating body has been numerically derived and consists of seven star-polygons that form a fractal structure. The actual resonator is defined by focused ion-beam implantation on a SOI wafer where its 18 vertices are clamped to nanopillars. The structure is suspended over a 10 μm trench and has width of 12 μm. Its thickness of 0.040 μm is defined by the fabrication process and prescribes Young’s modulus of 76 GPa which is significantly lower than the value of the bulk material. The resonator is excited by the bottom Si-layer and the interferometric characterisation confirms broadband frequency response with quality factors of over 800 for several peaks between 2 MHz and 16 MHz. COMSOL FEM software has been used to vary material properties and residual stress in order to fit the eigenfrequencies of the model with the resonance peaks detected experimentally. Further use of the model shows how the symmetry of the device affects the frequency spectrum. Also, by using the FEM model, the possibility for an electrical read out of the device was tested. The experimental measurements and simulations proved that the device can resonate at many different excitation frequencies allowing multiple operational bands. The size, and the power needed for actuation are comparable with the ones of single beam resonator while the fractal structure allows much larger area for functionalisation.