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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
A MEMS Implementation of the Classic Meissner
Parametric Resonator: Exploring High-Order
Windows of Unbounded Response
Shai Shmulevich and David Elata, Member, IEEE
Abstract In recent years, increasing attention is given to
parametric resonators, in which an unbounded response may be
induced by periodically modulating one of the system parameters.
Parametric resonators with a single degree of freedom have
many windows of unbounded response in which the response
frequency is different from the modulation frequency. This
difference between input and output frequencies may be relevant
to sensing applications. In this paper, we explore the solution map
of the Meissner parametric resonator, and we experimentally
characterize odd-ordered windows of unbounded response, up
to the 15th window. Another interesting feature of the Meissner
resonator is discrete crossover points in which an unbounded
response is possible at distinct modulation frequencies and
distinct modulation amplitudes. In this paper, we experimentally
characterize one such crossover point. Our parametric resonator
is based on an electrostatic anti-spring, which allows to modulate
stiffness that is otherwise unaffected by motion. This is in contrast
to many previous experimental studies in which the modulated
stiffness was affected by motion and thus included unwanted
nonlinear effects. [2016-0209]
Index Terms Parametric resonator, Meissner resonator,
high-order instability windows, tapered comb-drive.
I. I NTRODUCTION
M ICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL resonators are
essential in filtering, sensing and clocking applications.
Over several decades much effort has been invested in
enhancing their performance by improving their linear
response. When a linear resonator is driven by a harmonic
force, the response frequency is identical to the input
frequency, and the response amplitude peaks when the input
frequency is equal to the resonance frequency. This peak
amplitude is proportional to the amplitude of driving force,
and it is inversely proportional to the damping coefficient
- i.e. the amplitude of the peak response is bounded by
damping.
In recent years much attention is given to parametric
resonators which are different from linear resonators in
many aspects. Two properties of ideal parametric resonators
that are of special interest are that 1) a periodic response at
Manuscript received August 25, 2016; revised November 23, 2016; accepted
December 22, 2016. This work was supported in part by the Israeli
Science Foundation under Grant 1748/16, in part by the Russell Berrie
Nanotechnology Institute, and in part by the Micro Nano Fabrication and
Printing Unit of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. Subject
Editor A. Seshia.
The authors are with the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology,
Haifa 32000, Israel (e-mail: shaishm2@gmail.com; elata@technion.ac.il).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JMEMS.2016.2645878
1057-7157 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
1
one frequency can be induced by excitation at one of many
other frequencies, and 2) there are driving conditions in which
the response is unbounded - even though linear damping is
effective.
Parametric dynamic systems have been studied for over a
century [1][3]. In a parametric system one of the parameters,
usually inertia or stiffness, is periodically time-modulated. Due
to this time-modulation, the system will develop a dynamic
response which may be unbounded. In the classic Mathieu [1]
and Meissner [3] parametric systems, a linear stiffness is
periodically modulated. The response of these systems may
be bounded or unbounded, depending on the amplitude of
stiffness modulation and the modulation frequency [4].
In the domain spanned by the modulation amplitude
and its frequency, the Mathieu and Meissner systems have
an infinite number of windows in which the response is
unbounded [4], [5] (a.k.a. instability windows). These win-
dows have a tip at low modulation, and at the tip of the
n th window the modulation frequency is related to the natural
frequency of the system by = 2n /n, where n is the
natural frequency of the system at zero modulation amplitude,
and n is an integer.
The unbounded parametric response; the transition between
bounded and unbounded responses; and the different win-
dows of unbounded response, may all be useful for different
applications. The unique properties of parametric resonators
motivated MEMS implementations of such systems, begin-
ning with the pioneering investigation of Turner et al. [6].
Since then, increasing effort has been invested in facilitat-
ing parametric excitation in microsystems, and enhancing
the functionality of sensors [7][11], amplifiers [12][14],
filters [15][17], gyros [18], energy harvesting [19] and more.
Nevertheless, while most of the analytic published work refers
to classic parametric resonators [5], [20], actual devices suffer
from nonlinear effects, and cannot fully reconstruct classic
parametric systems [6], [8], [16].
In previous work [21] we presented a new realization
of a classic parametric resonator, and included experimen-
tal validation of the first window of unbounded response.
In addition, that work introduced a physical and intuitive
simple excitation (SE) model relating to the response at the
tip of that window.
II. T HE M EISSNER R ESONATOR
In the Meissner resonator, stiffness is an additive com-
position of a constant component and a square waveform
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2 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Fig. 1. Response map of the classic Meissner equation (a.k.a. stability map). The plot maps regions of bounded and unbounded solutions of the Meissner
equation, as function of the modulation amplitude, 2, and the modulation period squared 2. Shaded regions indicate an unbounded dynamic response, where
motion grows unbounded. Window tips (i.e. 2 0) are located at = n where n is an integer. At high modulations the windows of unbounded response
have crossover points.

component, with a fixed 50% duty-cycle. The Meissner
resonator is governed by the normalized equation of motion
d2x  2  to the SE model [21]. This model provides a simple and
2
+ + sgn (cos (2 )) x =0 (1)
d 2
Here 2 is the modulation period squared related to the
time-average stiffness of the system, and 2 is related to the
stiffness modulation amplitude.
Figure 1 presents the response map of the Meissner
equation, where windows of unbounded response are shaded.
In the case of the Mathieu resonator this map is known as the
Ince-Strutt diagram. The tip of the windows (i.e. at zero modu-
lation) are located at = n where n is an integer. Accordingly,
each window is identified by this integer. At high modulation
amplitudes, the map predicts points where the bounds of
the windows cross over. Windows of unbounded response
with increasing n have increasing number of crossover points,
and in each window these points are numbered sequentially
Cr = 1, 2, . . . (n 1)/2.
It can be shown [22], that for odd-ordered windows
crossover points occur at
2 = n 2 + (2Cr 1)2
2 = 2n (2Cr 1)
And that for even-ordered windows crossover points occur at
2 = n 2 + 4Cr2
2 = 4nCr
These crossover points may be relevant to sensing and clock-
ing applications because they are discrete in terms of both
frequency and modulation amplitude.
The classic Meissner equation (1) does not include linear
damping, which is known to affect the sharpness of window
tips and of crossover points [5]. To model the response at
tip points and consider the effect of linear damping, we refer
intuitive explanation of parametric resonance, and for low
values of stiffness modulation its response converges to that
of the Meissner resonator.
III. T HE G ENERALIZED SE M ODEL
Here we revisit the simple excitation (SE) model of paramet-
ric resonance [21] in a single degree-of-freedom system that
includes mass, m, linear damping, c, and a time-modulated
stiffness k(t). The stiffness may be toggled, at will, between
two values ka = k k and kb = k + k, where k is the
modulation amplitude of the nominal stiffnessk. The natural
frequency of the unmodulated system is n = k/m, and the
modulation ratio is k = kb /ka .
Let ta and tb be a quarter of the response-cycle period,
when stiffness is set to ka or kb , respectively. It has been
shown [21] that the first parametric excitation window tip,
n = 1, is induced when the stiffness is repeatedly and sequen-
tially set to ka and kb for time durations of ta and tb ,
respectively. If this sequencing starts when the mass has
some nonzero velocity, then stiffness is toggled up when
(2)
velocity vanishes and motion amplitude is maximized, and it
is toggled down when motion vanishes and velocity amplitude
is maximized (Figure 2a, n = 1). During one modulation
period, the system response is a concatenation of two quarters
(3) of distinct single harmonic responses. The period of this
modulation cycle is = ta + tb .
During a single modulation cycle the energy pumped into
the system is given by
1  
W I n = ka x 12 k 1 (4)
2
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SHMULEVICH AND ELATA: MEMS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLASSIC MEISSNER PARAMETRIC RESONATOR 3

Fig. 2. Predicted and measured time responses at the tips of the first four odd-ordered windows. (a) Response predicted by the generalized SE model.
Here ta and tb are quarter-cycle time periods for a system with stiffness ka and kb , respectively. Stiffness is toggled up to kb (red line), after n cycles of ta ,
when motion amplitude is maximized. Stiffness is toggled down to ka (blue line), after n cycles of tb , when velocity amplitude is maximized. Elastic energy
is pumped into the system when stiffness is toggled-up from ka to kb (spark markers). Motion amplitude increases after stiffness is toggled-down from kb
to ka , and is then maintained (green dashed lines). (b) Measured time response (black curves) of the test device, operated as a Meissner resonator, at the
tips of the first four odd-ordered windows. Measurements were performed at ambient pressure of 4 mTorr, and quality-factor was measured to be Q 4500.
Modulated voltage (gray lines) is applied to the anti-spring, such that increased voltage induces lower stiffness (i.e. ka ). The measured and predicted responses
show similar forms of motion evolution and similar correlation between stiffness toggling and increase in maximal stroke.

where x 1 is the motion amplitude at time = ta

. Assuming
linear damping with a quality factor of Q = km/c, the
dissipated work is given by
  once every modulation cycle, but for increasing window order,
1
D = ka x 12 k+1 (5)
4 Q
If the pumped energy is larger than the dissipated work per
cycle, then the system will be set in an unbounded dynamic
motion. It follows that an unbounded response is possible only
if the stiffness modulation ratio is larger than the critical value
k > kcr = (1 + /2Q)2 .
We next generalize the SE model to the tip of any
odd-ordered window, n. Consider that stiffness is toggled-up
after n periods of quarter cycle ta , when motion amplitude
is maximal and velocity vanishes, and that it is toggled-down
after n periods of quarter cycle tb , when velocity amplitude
is maximal and motion vanishes (Figure 2a). In this case,
the period of one modulation cycle of the n th window tip
is n = n(ta + tb ). Energy is pumped into the system when
stiffness is toggled-up from ka to kb , because this occurs when
motion amplitude is maximal. The toggling down of stiffness
has no effect on the energy of the system because it occurs
when motion vanishes. For all odd values of n, the energy
pumped into the system in every modulation cycle has the
same functional form (4). Energy is pumped into the system
each modulation period is longer and includes more vibration
cycles of the mass. These vibration cycles of the mass occur
at the natural frequency (i.e. a or b ), regardless of the
modulation frequency at the window tip. It follows that for
increasing order of the window, damping causes an increasing
amount of dissipated work, per modulation cycle.
1  
Dn = ka x 12 n k+1 (6)
4 Q
Consequently, for higher window order, a higher critical
modulation ratio, kcr , is required to overcome the increasing
dissipated work. The relation between the critical modulation
amplitude and the damping in the system is
kcr = (1 + n/2Q)2 (7)
It follows that though our system has but a single degree-of-
freedom, we may measure damping at the tips of consecutive
windows, and obtain several independent measurements of the
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4 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Fig. 3. Schematic view (a) and microphoto (b) of the test device. The device has two anti-spring transducers (upper) and a standard double-sided comb-drive
actuator (lower), which are connected to a single shuttle that is supported by folded-beam suspensions. The device dimensions are 2.7 by 4 mm.

same damping coefficient. This is because energy is pumped voltage this actuator produces a negative linear stiffness,
once in each odd-order modulation cycle, but damping is and therefore it is referred to as an electrostatic anti-spring.
effective during a higher number of mass vibration cycles. By applying a fixed voltage to an anti-spring transducer, the
Such measurements may also be used to verify that damping frequency of the system may be down-tuned [25]. By applying
is indeed linear. a square-waveform voltage to an anti-spring transducer, the
Notice that in the generalized SE model we do not consider system can be driven parametrically according to the Meissner
the tips of even-numbered windows of unbounded response. equation.
The tips of even-numbered windows are much sharper than the The test device was driven as a Meissner resonator by
tips of odd-ordered windows, and it has been previously applying a modulated voltage V (t) = Vdc + Vac sgn(cos(2t))
identified [6] that at the tips of even-ordered windows the 2 + V2 = V2 =
to both electrostatic anti-springs, where Vdc ac eq
dynamic response is strongly affected by the fundamental const.
linear resonance at the natural frequency. Therefore, the transi- The equation of motion of this device is given by
tion between bounded and unbounded responses at the tips of 
d2x dx
even-numbered windows is not easy to identify. Accordingly, + + 2 (1 K T )
d 2 Q d
the characterization presented in this work does not consider 

even-numbered windows. 2 2K T Vac 1 Vac 2 sgn (cos (2 )) x = 0

IV. E XPERIMENTAL C HARACTERIZATION (8)

To experimentally explore the possibility of implementing
where
a classic parametric Meissner resonator, we used the MEMS 
device presented in Figure 3 (fabrication details are similar to dx dx k n Vac
= , n = , = t = t, Vac = ,
the device in [21]). d n dt m Veq
A common shuttle is suspended on four folded-beam sus- 2
d2x 2 d2x km k V Veq
pensions which are intended to serve as linear springs (and = , Q= , KT = (9)
do so for sufficiently small vibration amplitudes [23]). This d 2 n2 dt 2 c k
common shuttle may be driven by a standard symmetric K T represents the normalized electrostatic stiffness of the
double-sided comb-drive actuator and/or by additional comb- system and is the normalized time. The stiffness of the
drives with tapered fingers. electrostatic anti-spring is k V = 2n f 0 w/g O L , where n f
The standard comb-drive produces an electrostatic force is the number of tapered fingers of one side of one anti-
which is proportional to the applied voltage, and is not affected spring rotor, 0 is the permittivity of free-space, w is the
by motion. When the system is driven by this actuator it device thickness, g is the gap between rotor and stator fingers,
responds as a linear electromechanical resonator. and OL is the initial overlap, where motion is in the range
The comb-drives with tapered fingers produce an electrosta- O L < x < O L.
tic repulsion force which is proportional to the applied voltage, Transition between a bounded and an unbounded response
and is linearly proportional to motion [24]. For a fixed driving was identified by setting a modulation voltage and slowly
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SHMULEVICH AND ELATA: MEMS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLASSIC MEISSNER PARAMETRIC RESONATOR 5

Fig. 4. Measured boundaries of odd windows of unbounded response. The inset for each odd-ordered window, presents measured points ( markers)
and theoretical prediction of the window boundaries. The predicted boundaries are for an undamped system (dotted lines) and a damped system [5] (solid
lines). The well-behaved implementation of a Meissner resonator, allows characterization of high-order windows (up to the 15th ordered window is shown).
The blunt window tips as well as the increasing minimal modulation amplitude in high order windows are evident and fit well with predicted performance of
a classic parametric Meissner resonator [5].

sweeping modulation frequency. Motion was measured using

a laser vibrometer. At the detection of a strongly diverging
motion increase, the system was brought back to rest. Then,
the parametric driving was repeated in that very same fre-
quency, to verify that the strongly diverging response indeed
results from parametric excitation. In addition, to compensate
frequency shifting due to thermal effects, the tip-point refer-
ence was repeatedly measured.
Typical responses at the tip of the first four odd-ordered
windows are presented in Figure 2b. These measurements
are in very good qualitative agreement with the responses
predicted by the generalized SE model (Figure 2a).
Figure 4 presents experimental characterization
( markers) of odd windows of the Meissner resonator, up
to the fifteenth window. All measurements were performed at
ambient pressure of 4 mTorr, quality-factor was found to be
Q 4500, and Veq 2 was set to 50 V2 , such that the natural

frequency of the system was down-tuned to f n = 501 Hz.

Theoretical predictions of the window boundaries, are marked
by dotted lines for no damping, and by solid lines for the
case of slight damping [5]. The good fit between predicted
transition lines and measured points is evident for all window
orders. Fig. 5. Unbounded response windows, in the physical frequency-modulation
Figure 5 presents the same measured window bound- plane. These plots present the measured window boundaries, in terms of actual
parametric excitation frequency, and actual electrostatic driving amplitude.
aries shown in Figure 4, but in terms of the actual mod-
ulation frequency. All previous plots were normalized as
common in literature, but the window sharpness has a Here S = ft ip / f , where f t ip is the modulation frequency
more physical meaning when the windows are expressed at the tip, and  f is the frequency bandwidth at the maximal
in terms of real physical values. In Figure 5, all the win- modulation.
dows appear to be very sharp, and hence four of them are This comparative measure of sharpness is arbitrary (because
shown in close-up views, detailing the sharpness, S, of each. of the arbitrary maximal modulation amplitude of 50 V2 ), and
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6 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
Fig. 6. The first crossover point in the eleventh window. The inset is a
zoom-in view of the crossover, showing typical blunting due to damping.
Notice that this crossover point occurs at fairly high modulation amplitudes.
should not be confused with the notion of sharpness used in
the context of linear resonators [26].
It is evident that sharpness of the window tip increases
for increasing window-order. Consequently, a parametrically
driven system at high-order windows, may allow higher selec-
tivity in the frequency domain (e.g. for filtering applications).
Figure 6 presents characterization of the first crossover in
the eleventh window, which occurs at fairly high modulation
amplitudes. The inset is a zoom-in view of the crossover
point, showing typical blunting due to damping. The measured
transition points are in good agreement with the predicted
boundaries. This demonstrates that our MEMS implementation
is compatible with classic parametric resonators, even in high
modulation amplitudes.
V. M EASURING DAMPING AT C ONSECUTIVE
PARAMETRIC R ESONANCES
The functional form of (8) shows that at the window tip,
the effective damping in the Meissner resonator is proportional
to the window order n (i.e. n = at the tip). This relation
between window order and the effect of damping on the
window tip, is captured by the generalized SE model (6). For
sufficient low damping (i.e. high Q) at the vicinity of the
window tip, the minimal modulation amplitude (7) converges
to unity (k 1), meaning that the duty-cycle converges
to 50%. Hence, kcr of the SE model is also relevant to the
Meissner resonator.
To validate the effect of damping, the system was first
operated as a linear resonator, and quality-factor was extracted
using two independent common procedures: measurement of
logarithmic decrement following a mechanical impact to the
probe station chuck, and sharpness estimation of the response
in frequency sweeps. In both methods quality-factor was found
to be Q 4500, at low motion amplitudes. Then, the
system was parametrically driven as a Meissner resonator.
Specifically, the minimal modulation amplitude required to
achieve a diverging parametric response, at the tip of odd
windows, was measured.
Fig. 7. Measuring the effect of damping at consecutive odd window tips.
The relation between measured and predicted critical modulation ratio, at the
first eight odd window tips (n = 1, 3, 5 . . . 15), is shown.
Figure 7 presents the measured modulation ratio of the
Meissner driving scheme, with respect to the predicted mod-
ulation ratio kcr of the generalized SE model (7). From (8) it
follows that the measured value of k is given by
kb (1 K T ) + 2K T V ac 1 Vac
2
k = = (10)
ka
(1 K T ) 2K T Vac 1 Vac2
where all variables are constants given by (9), except for the
ac signal Vac . The good fit in Fig. 7 demonstrates that the
quality-factor of a single-degree-of-freedom system, may be
measured independently at consecutive odd-ordered paramet-
ric resonances. The good fit also validates that damping in the
system is indeed linear.
VI. S UMMARY AND D ISCUSSION
The parametric MEMS resonator realized in this work,
does not introduce unwanted nonlinear effects in the time-
modulated stiffness - even at high modulation amplitudes.
The system can be operated at high-order windows, and the
measured response fits well with theoretical predictions. The
demonstration of the classic Meissner parametric resonator,
suggests that by applying the appropriate driving scheme, the
system may also be operated as the classic Mathieu resonator.
We showed that the system can be used to measure
quality-factor, independently, at several consecutive parametric
resonances. Measuring quality-factor requires identification of
a diverging response, but does not necessarily require waiting
for the development of large motion amplitudes. This is in
sharp contrast with common quality-factor measurements in
linear resonators, which requires both a continuous frequency
sweep, and a fully developed response which is often at
large motion amplitudes. The difficulty with large motion
amplitudes is that they are usually associated with nonlinear
effects [23], and the induced nonlinear response renders the
notion of quality-factor, questionable [26].
Besides, in linear resonators, consecutive resonances are
only possible in systems with multiple (or distributed)
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SHMULEVICH AND ELATA: MEMS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLASSIC MEISSNER PARAMETRIC RESONATOR
degrees-of-freedom. The fact that a parametric resonator has
consecutive resonance tips, even though it has a single degree-
of-freedom is intriguing, and as we demonstrated, may be
useful.
In the case of an unbounded response of a parametrically
driven resonator, the system will eventually be bounded by
mechanical motion limiters, or other inevitable nonlinear
effects. In the presented implementation, the response is
eventually bounded by a nonlinear effect in the mechanical
spring, before the shuttle reaches its designed end of travel.
This capping effect is attributed to inherent nonlinear stiffening
in the standard folded-beam suspension [23]. This mechanical
nonlinearity is not related to the electrostatic parametric mod-
ulation of stiffness. Specifically, the nonlinear effect becomes
dominant at motion amplitudes of the order of the flexure beam
width. Hence, the nonlinearity does not affect the initiation of
the diverging response, and consequently the windows may be
accurately characterized.
The fact that in parametric resonance the response fre-
quency is different from the modulation frequency is relevant
to sensing applications because it alleviates the problem of
feedthrough currents [27].
Perhaps the most intriguing feature in the response of
the Meissner parametric resonator is the crossover points in
the windows of unbounded response. These points may be
relevant to sensing and clocking applications because the
unbounded response occurs at discrete frequencies and discrete
modulation amplitudes. Such discrete frequencies may also
be relevant to sensing applications by tracking changes of
crossover point location due to various effects that are to be
thus measured.
This discreteness is evidently affected by linear damping
(Figure 6) which also blunts the window tips. However, in
our device the quality-factor was Q 4500. Other devices
with different architecture (and a much higher mechanical
stiffness) were demonstrated to have quality-factors above
Q > 1M [28], [29]. If such high Q resonators can be fit-
ted with appropriately designed anti-spring transducers, then
crossover points may become viable reference points for sen-
sor and clocking devices. Furthermore, it may be interesting if
high Q parametric resonators will make it possible to capture
the tips of even-ordered windows.
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 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.

8 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

Shai Shmulevich received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and David Elata (M01) received the B.Sc. degree
Ph.D. degrees from the Faculty of Mechan- from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel,
ical Engineering, TechnionIsrael Institute of in 1986, and the M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees
Technology, in 1999, 2012, and 2016, respectively. from the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology,
In 2000 and 2011 and since 2016, he has held an in 1989 and 1993, respectively, all in mechan-
R&D position in industry, focusing on mechanical ical engineering. From 1993 to 1996, he was
design and electrooptical systems. His research inter- a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Lawrence
ests include design, simulation, and characterization Livermore National Laboratory, and held a Visit-
of electrostatic MEMS devices. ing Postdoctoral position in the Geophysics Depart-
ment, Stanford University. He joined the Faculty
of Mechanical Engineering, Technion, in 1996, and
since 2000, his research has been on modeling and design of MEMS
actuators, and the development of novel concepts for MEMS devices. During
20062008, while on sabbatical from the Technion, he was a Visiting Scholar
in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University. He has
been serving the MEMS community as an Editor of IEEE J OURNAL OF
M ICROELECTROMECHANICAL S YSTEMS since 2008, and he has been serving
as a member of the TPC of leading conferences in the field.