The New Heart Beat of Electronics - Silicon MEMS Oscillators

All electronic systems need a clock source for synchronization between sub-systems as well as between systems. This clock source is acting like the heart beat in human body -one could not live without it. Over the past few decades, quartz crystals have been providing us very accurate frequency references in timing and frequency control world. With the development in the past decade, silicon MEMS technology has reached a matured level to be able to provide reliable clock sources for electronic systems -only thinner, cheaper, and easier integration. This paper reviews some key issues that have been resolved for commercializing silicon MEMS oscillators. In the near future, MEMS oscillators will be the heart of electronics that system design engineers would prefer to use.