Design considerations for an acoustic MEMS filter

Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices exhibit characteristics that make them ideal for use as filters in acoustic signal processing applications. In this study, a MEMS filter is constructed from multiple mechanical structures (e.g. cantilever beams) and a differential amplifier. The outputs of the structures are then processed by the differential amplifier to achieve the filter functionality. The important parameters of the mechanical structures and the MEMS filters are investigated using a simulation approach, including the structural damping factors, the normalized frequency ratios (NFR) of the MEMS filters, the number of mechanical structures required to construct individual MEMS filter, and the spatial arrangement of the multiple mechanical structures relative to the differential amplifier. Furthermore, the mutual coupling effects among these parameters are evaluated by detailed simulations. The simulation results show that a plot of the NFR versus the damping factors can be used to determine the optimal parameters for the mechanical structures. The number of mechanical structures required to construct a MEMS filter must equal 2n, with n as an integer, and these mechanical structures should be arranged as a geometric series with increasing resonant frequencies and with specific connections to the differential amplifier.