The use of mechanics to set and shape signal frequency content is ever-present in applications that permeate society, from the oscillators that tell time and synchronize communications to the front-end filters that outright enable our smartphones. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have played no small role in the advancement of these capabilities, and this technology continues to shape what’s to come. Specifically, MEMS-based oscillators using nano-scale transducer gaps have come a long way, from early days when smaller was simply deemed less stable, to today’s devices that sport frequency stabilities capable of challenging atomic clocks in certain application spaces. Since good frequency stability generally permits excellent sensors, it is not surprising that sensors have recently taken center stage for this technology, where nano-scale approaches to suppressing environmental interference, e.g., due to temperature changes, may soon enable leaps in capabilities, e.g., in safety features, such as brake response and hydrogen tank health monitoring for future fuel cell vehicles. Meanwhile, on the signal processing front, mechanical circuit approaches employing periodic switching over nanometer-scale gaps have lowered communication dynamic range requirements to levels that now permit low-bit-rate all-mechanical radios that can listen continuously with no battery drain, only consuming power when valid bits arrive.
This talk will use examples like the above to chronicle how small-gapped MEMS-based frequency control technology has and continues to transform intelligent system capabilities.
Bio
Prof. Clark Nguyen is a Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) Department at the University of California at Berkeley, where he recently finished a term as the Electrical Engineering Chair of the EECS Department and is now returning to research on micromechanical signal processing. He is the Founder of Discera, the first company to commercialize MEMS-based timing, which was acquired in 2013 and whose products are still sold in volume by Microchip. Prof. Nguyen served from 2002 to 2005 as a Program Manager in DARPA/MTO, served from 2016-2017 as the President of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, and presently serves as the President of the IEEE MEMS Technical Community. He is an IEEE Fellow and recipient of the 2006 IEEE Cady Award, the 2017 IEEE Bosch MEMS Medal, and was a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society from 2007-2009.
