Pressure sensor

• US 10,082,435 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2015
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Okamoto, Kazuaki, Hori, Akio, Fukuzawa, Hideaki, Fuji, Yoshihiko, Yuzawa, Akiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Harshad R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Tran M
• Application Number:
  US14/742,453
• Publication Number:
  US 20160003697A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,196 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0041 Transmitting or indicating the displacement of flexible diaphragms
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0047 Diaphragm with non uniform thickness, e.g. with grooves, bosses or continuously varying thickness
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/008 using piezoelectric devices piezoelectric resonators G01L9/0022; surface acoustic waves G01L9/0025
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/16 by making use of variations in the magnetic properties of material resulting from the application of stress

Abstract

A pressure sensor according to an embodiment includes: a support member; a membrane supported by the support and having flexibility; and a strain detection element formed on the membrane. The strain detection element includes a first magnetic layer formed on the membrane and having a magnetization, a second magnetic layer having a magnetization, and an intermediate layer formed between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer. A direction of at least one of the magnetization of the first magnetic layer and the magnetization of the second magnetic layer changes relatively to that of the other depending on a strain of the membrane. Moreover, the membrane includes an oxide layer that includes aluminum.

Claims

1. A pressure sensor, comprising:

a support member including silicon;

a membrane supported by the support member, the membrane being flexible, the membrane including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion overlapping the support member in a first direction, the second portion not overlapping the support member in the first direction, the second portion including a central part and an edge part located around the central part, a first thickness of the central part along the first direction being thinner than a second thickness of the edge part in the first direction; and

a strain detection element provided on the membrane at the edge part, the strain detection element including

a first magnetic layer,

a second magnetic layer apart from the first magnetic layer in the first direction, and

an intermediate layer provided between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer,

an electrical resistance of the strain detection element being configured to change depending on a strain of the membrane, wherein the strain detection element operates based on the magnetoresistive effect.

2. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein

a line segment extending along an extending direction and joining a centroid of the membrane and the strain detection element passes a point of a boundary between the first portion and the second portion, and

a position of the strain detection element along the extending direction is located between a position of a central point of the line segment along the extending direction and a position of the boundary along the extending direction.

3. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein 20 or more strain detection elements are disposed on the membrane.

4. The pressure sensor according to of claim 1, wherein the membrane has a rectangular shape.

5. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein a minimum circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes a shape of the membrane includes:

a first side;

a second side separated from the first side;

a third side connected to one end of the first side and one end of the second side;

a fourth side connected to the other end of the first side and the other end of the second side; and

a centroid of the minimum circumscribed rectangle,

the strain detection element is provided in a plurality,

the strain detection elements are disposed on the membrane, and aligned in parallel to the first side, and

the strain detection elements are disposed on an area on the membrane that overlaps a region configured from the first side and line segments joining both ends of the first side and the centroid of the minimum circumscribed rectangle.

6. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein a hard magnetic body is further adjacent to a periphery of the strain detection element disposed on the membrane.

7. The pressure sensor according to claim 6, wherein the hard magnetic body includes at least one of CoPt or FePt.

8. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the strain detection element is buried by a layer of an oxide including aluminum showing insulation properties.

9. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein the membrane includes a first film including a first oxide including aluminum.

10. The pressure sensor according to claim 9, wherein the membrane further includes:

a second film apart from the first film in the first direction, the second film including a second oxide including aluminum; and

a third film provided between the first film and the second film.

11. The pressure sensor according to claim 10, wherein the third film includes SiNx.

12. The pressure sensor according to claim 10, wherein a part of the first film is located between a part of the second film and the support member in the first direction.

13. The pressure sensor according to claim 9, wherein the first film is amorphous.

14. The pressure sensor according to claim 13, wherein a ratio of the first thickness to the second thickness not less than 0.95.

15. The pressure sensor according to claim 9, wherein the first film includes a portion overlapping the support member in the first direction, and a portion not overlapping the support member in the first direction.

16. The pressure sensor according to claim 9, wherein the first film directly contacts the support member.

17. The pressure sensor according to claim 9, wherein

the membrane further includes an other film,

a part of the first film is located between a part of the other film and the support member.

18. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of the first thickness to the second thickness not less than 0.90.

19. The pressure sensor according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of the first thickness to the second thickness not less than 0.95.