Microelectromechanical membrane transducer with active damper
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsDomenico Giusti, Fabio Quaglia
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microelectromechanical membrane transducer includes: a supporting structure; a cavity formed in the supporting structure; a membrane coupled to the supporting structure so as to cover the cavity on one side; a cantilever damper, which is fixed to the supporting structure around the perimeter of the membrane and extends towards the inside of the membrane at a distance from the membrane; and a damper piezoelectric actuator set on the cantilever damper and configured so as to bend the cantilever damper towards the membrane in response to an electrical actuation signal.
Claims20
A process for manufacturing a microelectromechanical membrane transducer, comprising:
- forming a structure of a membrane on a first substrate of a first semiconductor wafer;
- forming a cantilever damper on a second substrate of a second semiconductor wafer;
- joining the first semiconductor wafer and the second semiconductor wafer with the structure of the membrane facing the cantilever-damper structure with a central opening of the cantilever damper in a position corresponding to the structure of the membrane;
- and
- releasing the membrane by forming a cavity in the first substrate below the structure of the membrane;
- and
- wherein the forming the cantilever damper comprises forming a damper piezoelectric actuator configured to bend the cantilever damper towards the membrane in response to an electrical actuation signal.
A process for manufacturing a microelectromechanical membrane transducer, comprising:
- forming a structure of a membrane on a first substrate of a first semiconductor wafer;
- forming a cantilever damper on a second substrate of a second semiconductor wafer;
- coupling the cantilever damper and the second substrate to an adhesion layer on a supporting wafer;
- removing the second substrate from the cantilever damper and leaving the cantilever damper coupled to the adhesion layer;
- defining a space between a stopper element of the cantilever damper and the structure of the membrane by coupling the structure of the membrane to an anchorage region of the cantilever damper;
- and
- releasing the membrane by forming an opening overlapping the membrane by removing a portion of the first substrate.
A process for manufacturing a microelectromechanical membrane transducer, comprising:
- forming a structure of a membrane on a first substrate of a first semiconductor wafer;
- forming an annular cantilever damper on a second substrate of a second semiconductor wafer;
- coupling the annular cantilever damper and the second substrate to an adhesion layer on a supporting wafer;
- removing the second substrate from the annular cantilever damper and leaving the annular cantilever damper coupled to the adhesion layer;
- defining a space between an annular stopper element of the annular cantilever damper and the structure of the membrane by coupling the structure of the membrane to an annular anchorage region of the annular cantilever damper;
- and
- releasing the membrane by forming an opening overlapping the membrane by removing a portion of the first substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.