Versatile vacuum packaging for experimental study of resonant MEMS

This paper presents a versatile sub-mTorr vacuum packaging approach ideally suited for R&D of high performance dynamic MEMS. The procedure takes advantage of processing steps and materials used throughout the MEMS industry while providing maximum flexibility for changes in die size and layout. Prototypes of a new tuning fork gyroscope concept optimized to minimize substrate energy dissipation were packaged using the presented techniques and experimentally characterized to determine the sealed vacuum level. The combination of high-Q mechanical design with the packaging process resulted in a stable quality factor of greater than 91,000.