A macro model of squeeze-film air damping in the free-molecule regime

An accurate macro model for free-molecule squeeze-film air damping on micro plate resonators is present. This model relates air damping directly with device dimensions and operation parameters and therefore provides an efficient tool for the design of high-performance micro resonators. The construction of the macro model is based on Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and analytical traveling-time distribution. Its accuracy is validated via the comparison between the calculated quality factors of several micro resonators and the available experimental measurements and full MD simulation results. It has been found that the relative errors of the quality factors of two resonators, as compared with experimental data, are 3.9% and 5.7% respectively. The agreements between the macro model results and MD simulation results, on the other hand, are excellent in all cases considered. © 2010 American Institute of Physics