Microelectromechanical sensor with out-of-plane sensing and process for manufacturing a microelectromechanical sensor

A package comprising:

• a sensor including:
• a supporting structure having a substrate and electrode structures anchored to the substrate, each electrode structure including a first fixed electrode, a second fixed electrode, and a dielectric region, the first fixed electrode and the second fixed electrode being mutually insulated by the dielectric region and arranged in succession in a direction substantially perpendicular to a face of the substrate;
• and
• a sensing mass, movable with respect to the supporting structure so that a distance between the sensing mass and the substrate is variable, the sensing mass including movable electrodes capacitively coupled to the electrode structures;
• and
• a control device coupled to the electrode structures and configured to receive a first sensing signal, indicative of a first capacitance between the movable electrodes and the first fixed electrodes, and a second sensing signal, indicative of a second capacitance between the movable electrodes and the second fixed electrodes, the control device being configured to determine a first resulting signal from the difference between the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal.

A process for manufacturing a microelectromechanical sensor, comprising:

• forming electrode structures by:
• forming a first semiconductor layer above a substrate;
• forming dielectric regions on the first semiconductor layer, selectively in areas corresponding to the electrode structures;
• and
• forming a second semiconductor layer above the first semiconductor layer and the dielectric regions;
• and
• forming a sensing mass movable with respect to the substrate and defining in each electrode structure, a first fixed electrode and a second fixed electrode mutually insulated by a respective one of the dielectric regions, by forming a gap in the first semiconductor layer and in the second semiconductor layer.

A microelectromechanical sensor comprising:

• a substrate;
• a plurality of first electrodes that are fixed to the substrate;
• and
• a sensing mass that includes a plurality of second electrodes that are moveable relative to the substrate, the second electrodes being capacitively coupled to the first electrodes, one of the first electrodes and the second electrodes is an electrode structure having an upper electrode region, a lower electrode region and a dielectric region isolating the upper electrode region from the lower electrode region.