Thermoelastic damping in micro-scale circular plate resonators

The governing equations of coupled thermoelastic problems are established for out-of-plane vibration of a circular plate. The analytical expression for thermoelastic damping is obtained. Then the thermoelastic damping is studied under different environmental temperature, plate dimensions and boundary conditions.     

Thermoelastic damping of the axisymmetric vibration of circular plate resonators

Thermoelastic damping is recognized as a significant loss mechanism at room temperature in micro-scale circular plate resonators. In this paper, the governing equations of coupled thermoelastic problems are established for axisymmetric out-of-plane vibration of circular plate. Then the analytical expression for thermoelastic damping is obtained. The effects of environmental temperature, plate dimensions and boundary conditions on the thermoelastic damping are studied.     

Plasmonic refractive index sensor based on the combination of rectangular and circular resonators including baffles

We numerically designed a plasmonic refractive index sensor with high sensitivity and tunable optical feature based on two metal-insulator-metal bus waveguides connecting with the central-coupled rectangular and circular ring resonators, including silver (Ag) baffles. In the design process, Ag baffles' influence on transmittance spectrum, magnetic and electric field distributions, surface power flow intensity, energy streamlines, and sensor performance are investigated using the finite element method. The proposed structure can use as a high precision plasmonic refractive index sensor for refractive index in the increment range of 0.01. The maximum sensitivity can reach 3400 nm/RIU (RIU is a refractive index unit), which remarkably increases the sensitivity of 1.36 times compared to the case without Ag baffles. Besides, the figure of merit and quality factor can achieve 36.00 and 42.28, respectively. The sensitivity and figure of merit can be increased by adding the Ag baffles in the proposed plasmonic sensor system, generating an additional gap plasmon resonance mode that cannot find in a typical case.     

Experimental demonstration of the enhanced transmission through circular and rectangular sub-wavelength apertures using omega-like split-ring resonators

Enhanced transmission through circular and rectangular sub-wavelength apertures using omega-shaped split-ring resonator is numerically and experimentally demonstrated at microwave frequencies. We report a more than 150,000-fold enhancement through a deep sub-wavelength aperture drilled in a metallic screen. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the highest experimentally obtained enhancement factor reported in the literature. In the paper, we address also the origins and the physical reasons behind the enhancement results. Moreover, we report on the differences occurring when using circular, rectangular apertures as well as double-sided and single-sided omega-like split ring resonator structures.     

Localisation and damping in resonators with complex geometry

Based on numerical studies, we show that localisation is a common phenomenon in resonators exhibiting some kind of geometrical complexity. In two-dimensional (2d) shallow cavities of irregular shape, localisation effects are due to spatial decoherence in a major fraction of the volume. In 2d shallow cavities of regular geometry with embedded absorbing material of irregular shape, one observes the appearance of eigenmodes localised in both, the absorbing and the non-absorbing media. Those modes are thought to be responsible for increased dissipation. These results may be a hint to understand why natural or practical systems absorbing wave energy are found, or built, with complex geometry.     

Thermoelastic vibrations in micro-/nano-scale beam resonators with voids

In this paper the closed form expressions for the transverse vibrations of a homogenous isotropic, thermoelastic thin beam with voids, based on Euler-Bernoulli theory have been derived. The effects of voids, relaxation times, thermomechanical coupling, surface conditions and beam dimensions on energy dissipation induced by thermoelastic damping in (micro-electromechanical systems) MEMS/(nano-electromechanical systems) NEMS resonators are investigated for beams under clamped and simply supported conditions. Analytical expressions for deflection, temperature change, frequency shifts and thermoelastic damping in the beam have been derived. Some numerical results with the help of MATLAB programming software in case of magnesium like material have also been presented. The computer simulated results in respect of damping factor and frequency shift have been presented graphically.     

Cylindrical Gaussian-Hermite modes in rectangular waveguide resonators

Approximate solutions to the wave equation inside a rectangular metallic waveguide has been obtained in terms of cylindrical Gaussian-Hermite functions.E _mn ^π modes propagate with negligible straight guide losses in the far-infrared region. A new type of low-loss optical resonator suitable for FEL operation at long wavelengths is presented here.     

Thermoelastic damping in thin microrings with two-dimensional heat conduction

Accurate determination of thermoelastic damping (TED) is very challenging in the design of micro-resonators. Microrings are widely used in many micro-resonators. In the past, to model the TED effect on the microrings, some analytical models have been developed. However, in the previous works, the heat conduction within the microring is modeled by using the one-dimensional approach. The governing equation for heat conduction is solved only for the one-dimensional heat conduction along the radial thickness of the microring. This paper presents a simple analytical model for TED in microrings. The two-dimensional heat conduction over the thermoelastic temperature gradients along the radial thickness and the circumferential direction are considered in the present model. A two-dimensional heat conduction equation is developed. The solution of the equation is represented by the product of an assumed sine series along the radial thickness and an assumed trigonometric series along the circumferential direction. The analytical results obtained by the present 2-D model show a good agreement with the numerical (FEM) results. The limitations of the previous 1-D model are assessed.     

Electromagnetic characterization of rectangular ferroelectric resonators

An optimized geometry for a rectangular ferroelectric resonator (FR) is proposed to increase signal-to-noise ratio in EPR spectroscopy. To develop optimization criteria, the distribution of the microwave electromagnetic field in the FR is computed and analyzed. The computations, based on solution of Maxwell's field equations, were made for two types of rectangular FRs-a FR with a hollow sample hole and a FR with a blind sample hole. To introduce the samples, a hole was drilled through the resonator with its axis aligned to the axis of the FR. We computed and studied the spatial distributions of H- and E-components of the microwave electromagnetic field for two rectangular FRs, made of single-crystal potassium tantalate, with the following sizes: 1.9 x 1.9 x 1.4mm(3) and 1.7 x 1.7 x 3.1mm(3). As analysis of the obtained data indicated, in both resonators, the lowest mode was TE(11delta). By analyzing the distribution of the microwave field in the FR and comparing it with the experimental result, we developed optimization criteria for the geometry of a rectangular FR.     

Geometric effects on thermoelastic damping in MEMS resonators

The effects of geometry on the energy dissipation induced by thermoelastic damping in MEMS resonators are investigated numerically using a finite element formulation. The perturbation analysis is applied to derive a linear eigenvalue equation for the exponentially decaying rate of the mechanical oscillation. The analysis also involves a Fourier method that reduces the dimensionality of the problem and considerably improves the computational efficiency. The method is first validated by comparing the two-dimensional model to the existing analytical solutions for a simply supported beam system, and then it is extended to a three-dimensional axisymmetric geometry to obtain the energy loss as a function of the geometric parameters in a silicon ring resonator. The computational results reveal that there is a peak value for the resonant frequency when the radial width of the ring varies. In addition, the quality factor (Q-factor) decreases with the radial width as a monotonic function.     

Piezoelectric resonators with mechanical damping and resistance in current conduction

A novel design method for high Q piezoelectric resonators was presented and proposed using the 3-D equations of linear piezoelectricity with quasi-electrostatic approximation which include losses attributed to mechanical damping in solid and resistance in current conduction. There is currently no finite element sofware for estimating the Q of a resonator without apriori assumptions of the resonator impedance or damping. There is a necessity for better and more realistic modeling of resonators and filters due to miniaturization and the rapid advances in frequency ranges in telecommunication. We presented new three-dimensional finite element models of quartz and barium titanate resonators with mechanical damping and resistance in current conduction. Lee, Liu and Ballato’s 3-D equations of linear piezoelectricity with quasi-electrostatic approximation which include losses attributed to mechanical damping in solid and resistance in current conduction were formulated in a weak form and implemented in COMSOL. The resulting finite element model could predict the Q and other electrical parameters for any piezoelectric resonator without apriori assumptions of damping or resistance. Forced and free vibration analyses were performed and the results for the Q and other electrical parameters were obtained. Comparisons of the Q and other electrical parameters obtained from the free vibration analysis with their corresponding values from the forced vibration analysis were found to be in excellent agreement. Hence, the frequency spectra obtained from the free vibration analysis could be used for designing high Q resonators. Results for quartz thickness shear AT-cut and SC-cut resonators and thickness stretch poled barium titanate resonators were presented. An unexpected benefit of the model was the prediction of resonator Q with energy losses via the mounting supports.     

Thermoelastic damping in torsion microresonators with coupling effect between torsion and bending

Predicting thermoelastic damping (TED) is crucial in the design of high Q MEMS resonators. In the past, there have been few works on analytical modeling of thermoelastic damping in torsion microresonators. This could be related to the assumption of pure torsional mode for the supporting beams in the torsion devices. The pure torsional modes of rectangular supporting beams involve no local volume change, and therefore, they do not suffer any thermoelastic loss. However, the coupled motion of torsion and bending usually exists in the torsion microresonator when it is not excited by pure torque. The bending component of the coupled motion causes flexural vibrations of supporting beams which may result in significant thermoelastic damping for the microresonator. This paper presents an analytical model for thermoelastic damping in torsion microresonators with the coupling effect between torsion and bending. The theory derives a dynamic model for torsion microresonators considering the coupling effect, and approximates the thermoelastic damping by assuming the energy loss to occur only in supporting beams of flexural vibrations. The thermoelastic damping obtained by the present model is compared to the measured internal friction of single paddle oscillators. It is found that thermoelastic damping contributes significantly to internal friction for the case of the higher modes at room temperature. The present model is validated by comparing its results with the finite-element method (FEM) solutions. The effects of structural dimensions and other parameters on thermoelastic damping are investigated for the representative case of torsion microresonators.     

Damping in micro-scale generalized thermoelastic circular plate resonators

The out-of-plane vibrations of a generalized thermoelastic circular plate are studied under different environmental temperature, plate dimensions and boundary conditions. The analytical expressions for thermoelastic damping of vibration and phase velocity of circumferential surface wave modes are obtained. It is noticed that the damping of vibrations and phase velocities of circumferential surface wave modes significantly depend on thermal relaxation time in addition to thermoelastic coupling in circular plates under resonance conditions. The surface conditions also impose significant effects on the vibrations of such resonators. The expressions for displacement and temperature fields in the plate resonator are also derived and obtained. Some numerical results have also been presented for illustration purpose in case of silicon material plate.     

Thermoelastic damping effect on in-extensional vibration of rotating thin ring

Sensitive devices such as resonant sensors and radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical system (RF-MEMS) filters etc., require high Quality factors (Q-factors) defined as the ratio of total system energy to dissipation that occurs due to various damping mechanisms. Also, thermoelastic damping is considered to be one of the most important factors to elicit energy dissipation due to the irreversible heat flow of oscillating structures in the micro scales. In this study, the Q-factor for thermoelastic damping is investigated in rotating thin rings with in-plane vibration. First, in order to obtain the temperature profile of the model, a heat conduction equation for the thermal flow across the radial direction is solved based on the bending approximation so-called in-extensional approximation of the ring. Using the temperature distribution coupled with a displacement, a governing equation of the ring model can then be derived. Eventually, an eigen-value analysis is performed to obtain the natural frequency of rotating thin rings, and the analytical and numerical values of Q-factors can then be determined by the definition. Furthermore, the effects of rotating speed, dimensions of the ring, mode numbers and ambient temperatures on the Q-factor are discussed in detail.     

Suppression of thermoelastic damping in MEMS beam resonators by piezoresistivity

Microelectronic mechanical (MEM) beam resonators with high quality factors are always preferred in practical applications. As one of the damping sources, thermoelastic damping (TED) caused by irreversible heat flows is usually considered as an upper limit of the overall damping effect. A new method is proposed in this work to compensate TED by taking advantage of the piezoresistive effect. Such a method is implemented by applying an electrostatic field along the beam length with a negative piezoresistive coefficient. During a resonance, the stretched part of the beam generates a higher electrical power density and thus a higher temperature, while the compressed region leads to a lower temperature. Such a temperature distribution is opposite to the temperature change caused by the thermoelastic effect. The working principle is described by a set of coupled differential equations, which are subsequently solved by the finite element method. The result indicates that the TED in the beam resonators can be completely compensated when the strength of electrical field is tuned to a critical value, namely CEF. The value of the CEF is further analyzed by a series of parametric studies on various material properties and geometric factors.     

Turnstile coupling of rectangular and circular waveguides

Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 32, No. 9, pp. 1137–1143, September, 1989.