Force transducer for electronic devices

An electronic device comprising:

• a housing;
• a display within the housing;
• a multimode force interface configured to provide force output and to receive force input, the multimode force interface positioned below the display and comprising:
• an interdigitated force transducer comprising:
• a drive electrode defined by a first set of electrically-conductive sheets extending into a monolithic body;
• a ground electrode defined by a second set of electrically-conductive sheets interdigitally aligned with the first set of electrically-conductive sheets;
• and
• an array of sense electrodes coupled to an outer surface of the monolithic body, the outer surface of the monolithic body coupled to an interior surface of the display and aligned with an active display region of the display;
• and
• a controller coupled to the interdigitated force transducer;
• wherein
• the controller is configured to operate the interdigitated force transducer in a drive mode to provide force output and a sense mode to receive force input.

A method of operating a multimode force interface comprising:

• providing a drive signal to a drive electrode of a force transducer, the drive electrode defined by a first set of electrically-conductive sheets extending into a monolithic body and interdigitally aligned with a second set of electrically-conductive sheets extending into the monolithic body and defining a ground electrode;
• obtaining a sense signal from a sense electrode selected from an array of sense electrodes defined on an external surface of the force transducer;
• and
• filtering the sense signal based on the drive signal.