Measures of quality-factor in gap-closing electrostatic resonators

Abstract

We present analytic expressions and experimental verification for common measures of quality-factor in gap-closing electrostatic resonators. We show that peak-gain, peak-sharpness and logarithmic decrement are distinctively different and are not equal to the quality-factor of the system. The significance of this work is that it clarifies the correct way in which the performance of MEMS resonators should be reported to avoid ambiguity.