High intermodulation gain in a micromechanical Duffing resonator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a micromechanical Duffing resonator can achieve approximately 15dB of small signal amplification near the onset of bistability, with gain inversely related to frequency difference.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental demonstration of intermodulation gain in a micromechanical Duffing resonator near bistability onset.

Findings

Achieved about 15dB gain in the resonator.

Amplification inversely proportional to frequency difference.

Confirmed bistability as a mechanism for signal amplification.

Abstract

In this work we use a micromechanical resonator to experimentally study small signal amplification near the onset of Duffing bistability. The device consists of a PdAu beam serving as a micromechanical resonator excited by an adjacent gate electrode. A large pump signal drives the resonator near the onset of bistability, enabling amplification of small signals in a narrow bandwidth. To first order, the amplification is inversely proportional to the frequency difference between the pump and signal. We estimate the gain to be about 15dB for our device.