Patent ID: 7898148

Claim:
An oscillator circuit comprising: a first piezoresistive resonator having first and second piezoresistive lines, each of which is attached to an anchor at a first end and to a resonator electrode at a second end, and an actuation electrode configured such that application of an input voltage between the resonator electrode and the actuation electrode causes a deformation of the first and second piezoresistive conductor lines, thereby changing the electrical resistance of the first and second piezoresistive conductor lines; and a bias circuit for causing a current to flow through the first and second piezoresistive conductor lines and the resonator electrode, whereby the variation in electrical resistance of the first and second piezoresistive conductor lines is detectable as a corresponding change in an output voltage across the first and second piezoresistive conductor lines and resonator electrode; characterized in that the magnitude of the output voltage is greater than that of the input voltage and in that the output voltage is coupled back to the input voltage via a phase changing circuit comprising passive components only adapted to introduce a phase shift such that self-sustained oscillation is enabled.