Impact of Frequency Mismatch on the Quality Factor of Large Arrays of X-Cut Lithium Niobate MEMS Resonators

This paper investigates the impact of resonant frequency (f(s)) mismatch on the quality factor (Q(as)) of large arrays of X-cut Lithium Niobate (LN) Laterally Vibrating Resonators (LVRs) operating around 50 MHz and 400 MHz. The statistical distributions of key device parameters, including resonant frequency, quality factor (Q(s)), electromechanical coupling (k(t)(2)), and static capacitance (C-0), are collected from replicas of identical resonators. A Monte Carlo approach is later implemented to simulate the impact of statistical variability on the quality factor of arrays of resonators. By including the effect of interconnects series resistance on the arrays, an excellent agreement between experimental and simulated Q(as) is achieved, demonstrating that frequency mismatch is the major mechanism of quality factor degradation in arrays of parallel resonators. The experimental validation of the model confirms that it can be used as a predictive tool to establish the frequency tolerance requirements in order to attain high Q(as) in arrays. [2019-0210]