In-Plane SOI MEMS as a Mechanical Material for Time and Frequency Studies on Vibration

This paper reports use of a one-layer Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) resonator made on a Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) to study electrostatically-induced vibration. The authors experimentally verified that an SOI MEMS linearly responded to each frequency component of induced force. Due to the nature of electrostatic force, control voltage includes an overtone frequency. Each frequency component was mechanically amplified according to the resonance of MEMS, and the observed mechanical movement was a linear combination of them. In a vibration study, students may reproduce precise time-domain movement by frequency characteristics (Bode diagram) and validate them by measured mechanical movement. An insight to frequency- and time-domain relationship is thereby acquirable.