Reconfigurable mode of vibration in AlN MEMS resonators using phase change materials

This paper presents the first demonstration of a new approach to dynamic reconfiguration of the mode of vibration in AlN piezoelectric MEMS resonators using phase change material (PCM) based switchable electrodes. This innovative design solution enables effective ON/OFF switching of the acoustic resonance (~4.75X impedance variation at resonance), and reconfiguration of the device electromechanical coupling (kt₁²: 0 - 0.553%), capacitance (C: 309 - 937 fF), and operating frequency (f₁~257 MHz, f₂~378 MHz). Such unique reconfiguration capabilities can potentially lead to the implementation of filter architectures (exclusively based on AlN/PCM high performance resonators and capacitors) whose frequency, order, bandwidth, and roll-off can be dynamically reconfigured.