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US 9,576,738 B2Granted
Tunable MEMS capacitor
AssigneeNXP B.V.
InventorsPeter G. Steeneken, Klaus Reimann
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A capacitive MEMS structure comprising first and second opposing capacitor electrode arrangements, wherein at least one of the electrode arrangements is movable, and a dielectric material located adjacent to the second electrode arrangement, wherein the second electrode arrangement is patterned such that it includes electrode areas and spaces adjacent to the electrode areas, and wherein the dielectric material extends at least partially in or over the spaces.
Claims14
A capacitive MEMS structure comprising:
- first and second opposing capacitor plates, each capacitor plate provided with a plurality of electrically separated electrodes, wherein at least one of the capacitor plates is movable and an insulating substrate is provided between the electrically separated electrodes such that an independent voltage can be provided to each electrode;
- a tunable dielectric material layer over the plurality of electrically separated electrodes of the second capacitor plate between the opposing capacitor plates, wherein the tunable dielectric material layer is formed by a first dielectric material over at least a first electrically separated electrode and a second dielectric material over at least a second electrically separated electrode, the first dielectric material and the second dielectric material having different dielectric constants when a given voltage is applied;
- and
- a controller coupled to at least one of the first and second opposing capacitor plates, the controller configured to drive a first voltage for MEMS switching to a first electrode of the plurality of electrically separated electrodes of the capacitor plates and to drive a second voltage for dielectric tuning to a second electrode of the plurality of electrically separated electrodes of the capacitor plates, wherein a different gap distance is provided between opposite first electrodes than between opposite second electrodes and opposite third electrodes of the capacitor plates;
- wherein the second capacitor plate is patterned such that it includes electrode areas and spaces adjacent to the electrode areas, and wherein the tunable dielectric material extends at least partially in or over the spaces.
2 more elements
A capacitive MEMS structure comprising:
- a first capacitor plate and a second capacitor plate arranged vertically opposite each other, wherein the first capacitor plate is comprised of a plurality of electrically separated electrodes and the second capacitor plate is comprised of a plurality of electrically separated electrodes;
- a tunable dielectric material layer layered vertically between the first and second capacitor plates;
- wherein the tunable dielectric material layer covers the electrodes of the second capacitor plate and extends into spaces formed between the electrically separated electrodes of the second capacitor plate, the first dielectric material and the second dielectric material having different dielectric constants when a given voltage is applied;
- and
- wherein the tunable dielectric material layer is formed by a first dielectric material over at least a first electrically separated electrode and a second dielectric material over at least a second electrically separated electrode in the plurality of electrically separated electrodes of the second capacitor plate;
- and
- a controller coupled to the electrodes of the second capacitor plate, the controller configured to drive a first voltage for MEMS switching to a first electrode of the plurality of electrically separated electrodes and to drive a second voltage for dielectric tuning to a second electrode of the plurality of electrically separated electrodes, wherein a different gap distance is provided between opposite first electrodes than between opposite second electrodes and opposite third electrodes of the capacitor plates;
- and
- wherein the electrodes of the first capacitor plate are separated by an insulating substrate such that an independent voltage can be provided to each electrode.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.