Performance of an AuPd micromechanical resonator as a temperature sensor

In this work we study the sensitivity of the primary resonance of an electrically excited microresonator for the possible usage of a temperature sensor. We find a relatively high normalized responsivity factor Rf=|TfdfdT|=0.37 with a quality factor of ∼105. To understand this outcome we perform a theoretical analysis based on experimental observation. We find that the dominant contribution to the responsivity comes from the temperature dependence of the tension in the beam. Subsequently, Rf is found to be inversely proportional to the initial tension. Corresponding to a particular temperature, the tension can be increased by applying a bias voltage.