Flexural plate wave resonator excited with Lorentz forces

A flexural plate wave resonator was constructed by patterning current lines on a silicon nitride membrane suspended on a rectangular silicon frame. Eigenmodes of the rectangular membrane were excited using Lorentz forces generated between alternating surface currents and a static in-plane magnetic field. Preferential coupling to a particular membrane mode was achieved by positioning current lines along longitudinal mode antinodes. An equivalent-circuit model was derived which characterizes the input impedance of a one-port device and the transmission response of a two-port device over a range of frequencies near a single membrane resonance. Experiments were performed to characterize the device’s response to changes in dc magnetic field strength, ambient gas composition, gas pressure, and input power.