Experimental Measurement of Resonance Frequencies of Asymmetric Micro-bridge Resonators

The experiment results on the resonance frequencies of micro-bridge resonators with attached electrostatic comb-drives are reported in this article. The resonators include a novel design of asymmetric resonators, in which the comb-drives are attached to off-midpoint of the beam. The experiment results confirm that by properly designing the location and mass of the comb-drives, the natural frequencies can exceed those of conventional symmetric resonators. Moreover, it has been shown that the second mode of vibration of asymmetric resonators, in contrast to that of symmetric resonators, can be excited, hence exploited for applications in which multiple working frequencies are desired. The experiment results are in good agreement with the analytical model. The deviations between these two are discussed in detail.