The FREQUENCE project initiated by TEMEX R&D and titled, Modeling of crystal resonators and innovative processes in order to make them much smaller, has been selected by the French National Research Agency (ANR) for its Functional Materials and Innovative Processes Program. The ANR will partially fund the FREQUENCE project, which will be managed by TEMEX in conjunction with FEMTO-ST and GEMMA.
The project began on January 1, 2010, and is scheduled to run for a three-year period until December 31, 2012. TEMEX and FEMTO-ST will be responsible for the modeling and technological processes while GEMMA will produce crystal slices.
The main objective of the project, which deals with the crystal production paths in a complex environment, is to improve the production technology of acoustic crystal components such as Bulk Acoustic Resonators (BAW). The project aims to develop the modeling tools as well as the technological processes that are necessary to design and manufacture high-performance crystal resonators with minimum size, utilizing a collective process on 100 mm diameter slices.
The expected advantages are cost reduction and reduction of the size of components. The high-performance crystal resonators produced would be used as frequency references for electronic systems that require highly reliable time measurements, in applications such as metrology, GPS, guidance and radars.
The ANR considers this project to be highly promising and expects it to have a strong impact on the competitiveness of the time and frequency industry, a sector where France remains a worldwide reference.
