Surface electrode configurations for quartz MEMS double-ended tuning fork resonator

The quartz double-ended tuning fork (DETF) resonator is well known to be sensitive to longitudinal force and is widely used as the sensing element in modern accelerometer, force and pressure sensors. The quartz DETF resonator works in-plane, with anti-phase flexural mode vibration, which is driven into oscillation by internal strains created by AC voltages applied to electrode patterns on the beams. The DETF vibration modes and vibration characteristics are determined by the electrode pattern and its electromechanical coupling efficiency. Presented are three kinds of electrode patterns for different applications, and the effect of electrode patterns on the vibration performances are investigated experimentally. With the fundamental frequency at 65 KHz, the DETF resonator is designed and fabricated using the wet etching-based quartz MEMS technique. The vibration characteristics including Q-value, and equivalent parameters, are evaluated using a 4294 A impedance analyser. Experimental results demonstrated that the vibration characteristics of quartz DETFs are affected by the electrode patterns including pattern location and widths. These results are expected to be useful for designing quartz DETF based devices.