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US 7,002,436 B2Granted
Vacuum-cavity MEMS resonator
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsQing Ma, Peng Cheng, Valluri Rao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonator with a vacuum-cavity is fabricated using polysilicon-enabled release methods. A vacuum-cavity surrounding the MEMS beam is formed by removing release material that surrounds the beam and sealing the resulting cavity under vacuum by depositing a layer of nitride over the structure. The vacuum-cavity MEMS resonators have cantilever beams, bridge beams or breathing-bar beams.
Claims18
A vacuum-cavity microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonator, comprising:
- a first beam base atop a first passivation layer covering a surface of a substrate;
- a beam fixed to the first beam base;
- first and second electrodes adjacent the beam but spaced apart therefrom;
- and
- a support structure adjacent but spaced apart from the beam and partially defining a cavity in which the beam resides, the cavity being vacuum-sealed by a layer of nitride covering the support structure.
2 more elements
An apparatus, including:
- a microelectromechanical (MEMS) beam sealed in a vacuum;
- first and second electrodes spaced apart from the beam;
- a support structure spaced from the beam by a distance defined by a release material removed during fabrication;
- and
- a layer of nitride to cover and vacuum-seal the support structure.
2 more elements
A system, including:
- a microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonator circuit;
- a beam in a vacuum with a contact of the beam coupled to the MEMS resonator circuit;
- first and second electrodes adjacent the beam but spaced apart therefrom, and coupled to the MEMS resonator circuit;
- an input voltage source connected to the first electrode;
- and
- a cavity in which the beam resides, the cavity being vacuum-sealed by a layer of nitride.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.