A 1.8 MHz MEMS-based oscillator with synchronous amplitude limiter

This paper describes the design and simulation of a MEMS-based oscillator using a synchronous amplitude limiter. The proposed solution does not require external control signals to keep the resonator drive amplitude within the desired range. In a MEMS oscillator the oscillation amplitude needs to be limited to avoid over-driving the resonator which could cause unwanted nonlinear behavior [1] or component failure. The interface electronics has been implemented and simulated in 0.35μm HV CMOS process. The resonator was fabricated using a custom rapid-prototyping process involving Focused Ion Beam masking and Cryogenic Deep Reactive Ion Etching.