High power and low temperature coefficient of frequency oscillator based on a fully anchored and oxide compensated ALN contour-mode MEMS resonator

This paper reports on the design and experimental verification of the first high power and low temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) oscillator based on a fully anchored and temperature compensated AlN contour-mode MEMS resonator operating at 950 MHz. Full anchoring of the AlN resonant body is introduced as an innovative design to improve the device linearity without altering the resonator quality factor. The enhanced power handling of the device enabled the implementation of a high power (6 dBm) and low phase noise (-85 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz offset and -172 dBc/Hz floor) oscillator with improved temperature stability (~600 ppm total frequency variation and no phase noise degradation over a 75 °C range).