Disclosed are capacitive micromechanical resonators optimized for high Q,
low motional impedance, and large tuning range. Exemplary resonators were
fabricated using a HARPSS-on-SOI process, and demonstrated quality
factors up to 119000 in vacuum. For resonators operating between 3 MHz
and 30 MHz, the lowest extracted impedance is 218 k.OMEGA. and the
largest electrostatic tuning coefficient is -240 ppm/V.sup.2. The
disclosed designs are applicable up to at least 200 MHz operation. An
oscillator interface circuit comprising of a trans-impedance amplifier
and an automatic bias generator providing a temperature-compensating bias
voltage is also disclosed. Experiments show temperature drift reduction
from 2800 ppm to 39 ppm over a 100.degree. C. range. Process compensation
(DFM) of micromechanical resonators, resonators having mass loading
elements that allow generation of closely spaced frequencies, and coupled
systems comprising of the resonators are also described.