Evaluation of silicon tuning-fork resonators under space-relevant radiation conditions

Abstract

This work reports on irradiations made on silicon bulk-acoustic wave resonators. The resonators were based on a tuning fork geometry and actuated by a piezoelectric aluminum nitride layer. They had a resonance frequency of 150 kHz and a quality factor of about 20000 under vacuum. The susceptibility of the devices to radiation induced degradation was investigated using 60Co γ-rays and 50 MeV protons with space-relevant doses of up to 170 krad. The performance of the devices after irradiation indicated a high tolerance to both ionizing damage and displacement damage effects. The results support the efforts towards design and fabrication of highly reliable MEMS devices for space applications.