Temperature-induced frequency activity dips in AT-cut quartz crystal resonators

  • Nian LI ,
  • Chao GAO ,
  • Feng CHEN ,
  • Zhenghua QIAN ,
  • I. KUZNETSOVA
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  • 1.School of Mechanical Engineering, Suzhou University of Technology, Suzhou 215500, Jiangsu Province, China
    2.School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215021, Jiangsu Province, China
    3.State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control for Aerospace Structures, College of Aerospace Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
    4.Shenzhen Research Institute, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shenzhen 518057, Guangdong Province, China
    5.Kotelnikov Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of RAS, Moscow 125009, Russia
Zhenghua QIAN, E-mail: qianzh@nuaa.edu.cn

Received date: 2025-07-24

  Revised date: 2026-01-12

  Online published: 2026-03-02

Supported by

Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2023YFE0111000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12102183, 12172171, and U24A2005), and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program of China (No. JCYJ20230807142004009)

Copyright

©Shanghai University 2026

Abstract

This study investigates the frequency-temperature behaviors in AT-cut quartz crystal resonators (QCRs). First, the dispersion relations of an infinite quartz plate are obtained through a semi-analytical finite element (SAFE) analysis, which explicitly reveals the intrinsic frequency-temperature dependence of different vibration modes. Subsequently, we address practical resonator configurations by examining finite quartz plates, where numerical simulations uncover critical interactions between the operational thickness-shear (TS) mode and coupling modes, i.e., the flexure (F), face-shear (FS), and extension (E) modes. Through the frequency spectra analysis, we demonstrate that both the plate aspect ratio and thermal variations affect mode-coupling behaviors. Unstable frequency-temperature variations (activity dips) are observed at critical resonator dimensions. Validation through the free-vibration eigen-frequency analysis and forced-vibration admittance characterization confirms the stable or unstable states predicted by the frequency spectra. The established framework not only reveals the origin of temperature-induced activity dips but also provides the crucial design criteria for suppressing the mode-coupling interference in high-stability resonators.

Cite this article

Nian LI , Chao GAO , Feng CHEN , Zhenghua QIAN , I. KUZNETSOVA . Temperature-induced frequency activity dips in AT-cut quartz crystal resonators[J]. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 2026 , 47(3) : 639 -652 . DOI: 10.1007/s10483-026-3360-9

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