Fabrication of miniature quartz resonators utilizing photolithographic techniques

Abstract

The quartz crystal is an electro-mechanical device that has for the past several decades been implemented for precise time keeping and frequency control in electrical circuits. When implemented in an electrical circuit, the quartz crystal is referred to as a resonator. The quartz crystal’s frequency and temperature stability cannot be matched dollar for dollar with any other type of resonator. To keep pace with the electronics industry’s drive towards component miniaturization, a process was developed to fabricate miniature quartz resonators. This process utilizes chemical milling and photolithographic processing techniques to construct the quartz resonator. The type of quartz resonator that was chosen to be fabricated was an AT-Strip resonator. The AT designation refers to a wafer taken from the quartz bar at a precise angle, and strip refers to the resonator’s rectangular shape. This type of resonator was chosen due to its temperature stability and relatively high frequency of oscillation.