Temperature Dependence of Quality Factor in MEMS Resonators

The temperature dependence of the quality factor, Q, of encapsulated MEMS resonators is analyzed in an effort to understand the temperature regimes where different energy loss mechanisms are dominant. The effect of two limiting energy loss mechanisms for these resonators, air damping and thermo elastic dissipation, are separately analyzed to determine the Q of the system over a range of temperatures. MEMS resonators can be designed to have either strong weak dependence of Q on temperature, if the effects of the dominant loss mechanisms with temperature are well understood. Up to 1% change in quality factor per ° C change of temperature was demonstrated, leading to the possibility of using quality factor as an absolute thermometer for temperature compensation in MEMS resonators.