Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with varying thickness membrane
First Claim
1. A capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) comprising:
- a substrate;
a support having a base in contact with the substrate, and a wall extending away from the base to a top; and
a membrane having an upper surface and a lower surface and extending in a lateral dimension parallel to the support and between the support wall to create a cavity defined by the substrate, the wall, and the membrane lower surface and a defining a gap between the substrate and the membrane;
the membrane having a non-uniform membrane thickness extending in a direction orthogonal to the membrane surface, the non-uniformity in the membrane thickness resulting from at least one of;
(i) a thickening on the upper surface of the membrane outside of the cavity, (ii) a thickening on the lower surface of the membrane inside of the cavity, (iii) a trench on an upper surface of the membrane, (iv) a trench on a lower surface of the membrane, and (v) any combination of two or more of these.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Structure for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) device or other vibrating membrane device having non-uniform membrane so that membrane mass and stiffness characteristics may be substantially independently adjusted. CMUT having trenched membrane and/or membrane with non-uniform thickness or density. Method for operating transducer or vibrating membrane device. Array of devices at least some of which have non-uniform membrane properties. CMUT comprising substrate, support for membrane, and membrane extending over support to create cavity, membrane having non-uniform membrane thickness resulting from at least one of: thickening on upper surface of the membrane outside of cavity, thickening on lower surface of membrane inside cavity, trench on upper surface of membrane, trench on lower surface of the membrane, and any combination of two or more of these. Method for fabricating CMUT or vibrating membrane device having non-uniform membrane. High mechanical sensitivity transducer for sensor, microphone, and/or transmitter.
134 Citations
59 Claims
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1. A capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) comprising:
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a substrate;
a support having a base in contact with the substrate, and a wall extending away from the base to a top; and
a membrane having an upper surface and a lower surface and extending in a lateral dimension parallel to the support and between the support wall to create a cavity defined by the substrate, the wall, and the membrane lower surface and a defining a gap between the substrate and the membrane;
the membrane having a non-uniform membrane thickness extending in a direction orthogonal to the membrane surface, the non-uniformity in the membrane thickness resulting from at least one of;
(i) a thickening on the upper surface of the membrane outside of the cavity, (ii) a thickening on the lower surface of the membrane inside of the cavity, (iii) a trench on an upper surface of the membrane, (iv) a trench on a lower surface of the membrane, and (v) any combination of two or more of these. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer device comprising:
- a membrane supported by support structures or posts, the membrane having a nominal uniform thickness extending between the support structures or posts except for first and second trenches wherein some membrane material is absent from or has been removed from the upper surface of the membrane outside of a cavity formed between the membrane and the substrate; and
at least one of;
(i) a first thickened portion formed on or integral with the membrane on the inner surface of the membrane within the transducer cavity and having a first lateral dimension and a first thickness, and (ii) a second thickened portion formed on or integral with the membrane on the outer surface of the membrane outside of the transducer cavity and having a second lateral dimension and a second thickness. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
- a membrane supported by support structures or posts, the membrane having a nominal uniform thickness extending between the support structures or posts except for first and second trenches wherein some membrane material is absent from or has been removed from the upper surface of the membrane outside of a cavity formed between the membrane and the substrate; and
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57. A capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array comprising:
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a plurality of CMUT elements or cells disposed as an array;
each CMUT element or cell formed on a substrate and each CMUT element or cell further comprising;
a support having a base in contact with the substrate, and a wall extending away from the base to a top; and
a membrane having an upper surface and a lower surface and extending in a lateral dimension parallel to the support and between the support wall to create a cavity defined by the substrate, the wall, and the membrane lower surface and a defining a gap between the substrate and the membrane;
the membrane having a non-uniform membrane thickness extending in a direction orthogonal to the membrane surface, the non-uniformity in the membrane thickness resulting from at least one of;
(i) a thickening on the upper surface of the membrane outside of the cavity, (ii) a thickening on the lower surface of the membrane inside of the cavity, (iii) a trench on an upper surface of the membrane, (iv) a trench on a lower surface of the membrane, and (v) any combination of two or more of these.
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58. A method for designing a capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) comprising:
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specifying a CMUT membrane mass characteristic to achieve a first performance metric;
specifying a CMUT membrane stiffness characteristic to achieve a second performance metric, the specification of the membrane mass and thickness being independent of each other; and
determining a CMUT membrane structure having a non-uniform membrane thickness using the specified membrane mass and membrane stiffness characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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Specification