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US 7,889,955 B2Granted
Micromachined optical pressure sensor
AssigneeKulite Semiconductor Products, Inc.
InventorsAnthony D. Kurtz, Boaz Kochman, Joseph Van DeWeert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pressure sensor including: a deflectable diaphragm including a substantially central boss and channel; and, an optical waveguide having first and second arms, wherein the first arm is substantially aligned with an edge of the boss and the second arm is substantially aligned with an edge of the channel.
Claims16
A pressure sensor comprising:
- a deflectable diaphragm including a first thinned channel, a second thinned channel and a substantially central boss;
- an optical waveguide having first and second arms on the deflectable diaphragm, said first arm is substantially aligned with an edge of said boss above the first thinned channel and said second arm is substantially aligned with an edge of said second thinned channel, wherein said first arm is under compression and said second arm is under tension when a pressure is applied to said diaphragm;
- a light source coupled to said optical waveguide for introducing light to said waveguide;
- and
- a light detector coupled to said waveguide for detecting changes in the intensity of light.
2 more elements
A method for making an optical pressure sensor comprising:
- selectively thinning a Si containing wafer to include a first thinned channel and a second thinned channel on opposing sides of a substantially central boss;
- and
- forming an optical waveguide having first and second arms, said first arm being substantially aligned with an edge of said boss above the first thinned channel and said second arm being substantially aligned with an edge of said second thinned channel, wherein said first arm is under compression and said second arm is under tension when a pressure is applied to a diaphragm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.