Nonlinear piezoelectric quartz MEMS resonator with electrically tunable stability for enhanced performance of resonant accelerometer

Piezoelectric quartz resonators are attracting increasing attention in resonant accelerometers due to their excellent quality factor and stable crystal structure, which helps to achieve more robust mechanical sensing. Previously quartz resonators operated in the linear region of an atmospheric pressure environment. To achieve a better signal-to-noise ratio, it is imperative to investigate the effect of nonlinear effects on the performance of quartz resonators. In this work, piezoelectric quartz resonators' nonlinear dynamics are researched, and frequency bifurcation and phase stretching phenomena are systematically characterized. We show the effect of the quality factor and temperature on the bifurcation point and reveal the modulation mechanism of the resonator operating point on stability. We find a method to rapidly change the stability and bandwidth of the resonator by conveniently tuning the electrical parameters and validate it in static and dynamic experiments on a quartz resonant accelerometer, which can be used in resonant sensors and actuators.