Co-design of a MEMS-CMOS autonomous switched oscillator

This work presents the co-design and simulation of a self-excited MEMS-CMOS oscillator. The device consists of an electrostatic MEMS actuator, a DC source and a resistive circuit switched by the actuator´s displacement. The MEMS device is modeled after an existing device. A CMOS circuit is proposed for the displacement detection and the switching mechanism. The oscillator is capable of sustaining oscillations autonomously and exhibiting periodic and aperiodic behavior. The proposed oscillator can process electronic as well as nonelectronic information. The oscillator behavior is highly sensitive to stimuli which makes it a good candidate to be used as an enhanced sensor or in systems of coupled oscillators.