Characterization of vertical vibration of electrostatically actuated resonators using atomic force microscope in non-contact mode

Non contact mode atomic force microscope (AFM) direct characterization of out-of-plane fixed-fixed high frequency microelectromechanical resonators is examined while applying the excitation voltage to integrated electrostatic transducers. Non contact mode is rather used than contact mode in order to alleviate the dynamic mechanical coupling between the resonator and the cantilever occurring in the second case. Moreover, with this technique, sub-nanometer scale mechanical vibrations are sensed at operation frequencies in the MHz range. Additionally, this method is suitable in order to estimate the amplitude of vibrations of the resonator according to its excitation level signal and predict the motional resistance of the resonator, key parameter in case it would be integrated as a reference oscillator or a microelectromechanical filter in a more complex radio-frequency transceiver architecture.