NANOTIMER: Nano-technology in mechanical-electrical resonators

• Forschungsstelle: EU FRP
• Projektnummer: 03.0496-1
• Projekttitel Englisch: NANOTIMER: Nano-technology in mechanical-electrical resonators

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

Microsystems; MEMS resonators; RF integrated circuits; nanotechnology; mobile communications

Alternative Projektnummern (Englisch)

EU project number: 507914

Forschungsprogramme (Englisch)

EU-programme: 6. Frame Research Programme - 1.2.2 New methods of work and electronic commerce

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

See abstract

Abstract (Englisch)

Mechanical resonance is widely applied in high high-precision oscillators for a multitude of time time-keeping and frequency reference applications. In all such cases, the high high-precision resonating element consists of an off-chip passive component, such as a quartz crystal. Major drawback of these off off-chip resonator technologies is that they are bulky and must interface with transistor chips at the boards, posing a bottleneck against the ultimate miniaturization of e.g. wireless devices. The extraordinary small size and high level of integration that can be achieved with silicon MEMS resonators appear to open exceptional possibilities for creating miniature -scale precision oscillators to be used in e.g. mobile communication and navigation devices. The aim of the NanoTIMER project is to develop an oscillator with high high-accuracy incorporating a silicon MEMS resonator generating frequencies in the 10 to 1500 MHz range. Within the NanoTIMER project, MEMS based oscillators will be realized according to concrete specifications derived from existing applications. The MEMS oscillator will be encapsulated using a wafer wafer-level vacuum package technology that is compatible to the oscillator manufacturing flow. An important feature of the proposed resonator manufacturing process is the realization of nanometre size (<100 nm) transduction gaps, which is of prime importance for the realization of MEMS resonators functioning in the GHz range. Reliability and drift of assembled oscillators and its constituent components (resonator and package) will be assessed.
The NanoTIMER initiative is a first step towards the realization of 'vibrating' nano nano-electro electro-mechanical processors that, combined with traditional CMOS, could open new alternatives for signal processing in VLSI.

Datenbankreferenzen (Englisch)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 03.0496-1