Micromechanical ultrasonic transducers and display
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorsSuryaprakash Ganti, David William Burns, Jonathan Charles Griffiths
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus may include a one- or two-dimensional array of micromechanical ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) elements positioned below, beside, with, on, or above a backplane of a visual display. The backplane may be a thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane. The array of PMUT elements may be a piezoelectric micromechanical ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) array or a capacitive micromechanical ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array. The PMUT array may be configurable to operate in modes corresponding to multiple frequency ranges. When operating in the low-frequency mode, the apparatus may be capable of gesture detection. A high-frequency mode may include a fingerprint sensor mode or a stylus detection mode.
Claims32
A display device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a display coupled to the substrate;
- a piezoelectric micromechanical ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) array proximate the display, wherein at least a portion of the PMUT array resides on the substrate;
- a plurality of thin-film transistors (TFTs), at least a first array of the TFTs residing on the substrate and including circuitry for controlling the display and at least a second array of the TFTs residing on the substrate and including circuitry for controlling at least a portion of the PMUT array;
- and
- a control system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.