Modeling and Simulation of Microresonators with Meander Suspensions

Surface-micromachined comb-drive resonators suspended by meander springs are modeled and simulated. General analytic expressions for lateral spring constants and effective mass of meander springs are derived and verified by finite-element simulations. The spring constant equations are accurate to within 1% over a wide range of geometries. Analytic, simulated, and measured resonant frequency values agree to within 0.3% for each of ten different microresonator designs.