Acceleration sensitivity in beam-type electrostatic microresonators

This letter examines the dependence of the natural frequency in a microelectromechanical resonator on externally applied acceleration. The particular structure studied is an electrostatically coupled, single anchored, double-ended silicon tuning fork. The authrors find that the acceleration dependence in this resonator is primarily due to axial stress on the resonator beams. Measurements show an acceleration sensitivity Delta f/f(0) of 7x10(-9)/g, which is comparable to values found for typical quartz crystal resonators. This result was obtained using dynamic (vibration) measurements, and validated using theoretical analysis and finite element simulations.