A Compact and Low-Power CMOS Circuit for Fully Integrated NEMS Resonators

Abstract

This brief presents a fully integrated nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) resonator, operable at frequencies in the megahertz range, together with a compact built-in CMOS interfacing circuitry. The proposed low-power second-generation current conveyor circuit allows detailed read-out of the nanocantilever structure for either extraction of equivalent circuit models or comparative studies at different pressure and dc biasing conditions. In this sense, extensive experimental results are presented for a real mixed electromechanical system integrated through a combination of in-house standard CMOS technology and nanodevice post-processing by nanostencil lithography. The proposed read-out scheme can be easily adapted to operate the nanocantilever in closed loop operation as a stand-alone NEMS oscillator.

Thermomechanical Noise Characterization in Fully Monolithic CMOS-MEMS Resonators

“…In the case of the monolithic solution and capacitive readout [ 9 , 11 ], as far as we know, this work proves to deliver the best results in terms of and even when comparing to non-monolithic solutions [ 8 , 10 ], that report a and , which are larger than the results provided in this work. Similarly, the outcomes also improve the results obtained for piezoresistive monolithic systems in terms of [ 12 , 13 ] by .…”

“…These results are similar to the best solutions achieved for the transduction of displacement in the micro and even nanomechanical world, that is constantly under progress [ 7 ]. Both, the and , are more than four orders of magnitude below state-of-the-art capacitive alternatives [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] and piezoresistive ones [ 12 , 13 ], being similar to optical and microwave cavity systems [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. In addition, measurements in vacuum conditions show a performance increase, achieving a for CC-Beam resonator, and a minimum detectable change in capacitance , becoming closer to the state-of-the-art optical solutions [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Evaporation of Femtoliter Sessile Droplets Monitored with Nanomechanical Mass Sensors

“…To optimize the electrical response, QBRs have been monolithically integrated with a specific CMOS circuitry designed for reading out the capacitive current produced at resonance. 34 This improves the readout quality by drastically reducing the parasitic output capacitances and enables "on-chip" signal amplification and conditioning.…”

Monitoring the evaporation of femtoliter droplets with CMOS integrated nanomechanical mass sensors

“…Therefore, QBR have been monolithically integrated with CMOS circuitry (figure 1) for signal amplification and parasitic capacitances reduction: a specific CMOS circuit has been designed for the readout of the capacitive current produced at resonance [9].…”