Exploiting nonlinearities of micro-machined resonators for filtering applications

We demonstrate the exploitation of the nonlinear behavior of two electrically coupled microbeam resonators to realize a band-pass filter. More specifically, we combine their nonlinear hardening and softening responses to realize a near flat pass band filter with sharp roll-off characteristics. The device is composed of two near identical doubly clamped and electrostatically actuated microbeams made of silicon. One of the resonators is buckled via thermal loading to produce a softening frequency response. It is then further tuned to create the desired overlap with the second resonator response of hardening behavior. This overlapping improves the pass band flatness. Also, the sudden jumps due to the softening and hardening behaviors create sharp roll-off characteristics. This approach can be promising for the future generation of filters with superior characteristics.