FBAR-CMOS Oscillator Array for Mass-Sensing Applications

Thin-film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) are an effective platform for sensitive biological and chemical detection, where their high operating frequencies make them many times more sensitive than a quartz crystal microbalance. Here, we present a monolithic, solidly mounted FBAR oscillator array on CMOS for mass-sensing applications. Through monolithic integration with CMOS drive circuitry, we aim to overcome the spatial and parasitic load limitations of externally coupled resonators to build dense sensor arrays without specialized fabrication techniques. The sensors in this work are constructed in a 6 x 4 array atop a 0.18 mu m CMOS active substrate, and mass sensitivity comparable to off-chip FBAR sensors is demonstrated.