Advances such as improved long-term frequency stability and thermal hysteresis have allowed microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators to pose a serious challenge to quartz crystal resonators. In the past, reliable performance comparable to quartz was a big hurdle for MEMS timing products to overcome. MEMS resonators did not exhibit good temperature stability, thermal hysteresis, and long term stability. According to Ecliptek, these issues have now been solved by the company’s EMO product family of programmable oscillators. It includes 12 different product series encompassing four industry standard package sizes and three supply voltages (1.8 Vdc, 2.5 Vdc, and 3.3 Vdc), providing frequency stabilities of ±50 ppm maximum over an operating temperature range of –40 ^oC to 85 ^oC. And offers tight duty cycle of 50% ±5%.

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The MEMS clock oscillators contain a MEMS resonator, an oscillator stage, frequency-temperature compensation, a low noise phase-locked loop, and a tri-state output buffer stage. A 200-mm CMOS wafer fabrication process for reduced lot-to-lot MEMS resonator variation, industry standard QFN packaging, and a chip-on-lead assembly process improves reliability while reducing assembly costs. This outcome compares well to quartz, which cannot take advantage of these manufacturing techniques and processes due to its mechanical structure, said Ecliptek.

The EMO family features frequencies ranging from 1.000 MHz to 125.000 MHz. Any frequency in this range can be ordered, with up to six significant digits (for example, 100.123456 MHz). The MEMS oscillators are available in high volume, said Ecliptek.

www.ecliptek.com

Firms like Ecliptek, a supplier of frequency control products to the electronics industry since 1987, have embraced the fast-growing MEMS resonator timing market.

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