Micro-electromechanical structure with self-compensation of the thermal drifts caused by thermomechanical stress
First Claim
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1. A micro-electromechanical structure of semiconductor material, comprising:
- a detection structure including a stator and a rotor, which are mobile with respect to one another in presence of an external stress and are subject to thermal stress;
a micro-electromechanical compensation structure subject to said thermal stress and invariant with respect to said external stress, said compensation structure being connected to said detection structure thereby said micro-electromechanical compensation structure supplies an output signal correlated to said external stress and compensated in temperature.
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Abstract
In a micro-electromechanical structure of semiconductor material, a detection structure is formed by a stator and by a rotor, which are mobile with respect to one another in presence of an external stress and are subject to thermal stress; a compensation structure of a micro-electromechanical type, subject to thermal stress and invariant with respect to the external stress, is connected to the detection structure thereby the micro-electromechanical structure supplies an output signal correlated to the external stress and compensated in temperature.
19 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A micro-electromechanical structure of semiconductor material, comprising:
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a detection structure including a stator and a rotor, which are mobile with respect to one another in presence of an external stress and are subject to thermal stress;
a micro-electromechanical compensation structure subject to said thermal stress and invariant with respect to said external stress, said compensation structure being connected to said detection structure thereby said micro-electromechanical compensation structure supplies an output signal correlated to said external stress and compensated in temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of self-compensating thermal drifts in a micro-electromechanical structure of semiconductor material, the method comprising:
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providing a detection structure including a stator and a rotor, which are mobile with respect to one another in presence of an external stress and are subject to thermal stress;
connecting said detection structure to a compensation structure of micro-electromechanical type subject to said thermal stress and invariant with respect to said external stress; and
biasing said detection structure and said compensation structure, thereby generating an output signal correlated to said external stress and compensated in temperature.
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19. An inclinometer, comprising:
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an acceleration sensor of semiconductor material having an output;
a signal-processing circuit connected to the output of said sensor; and
wherein said acceleration sensor includes;
a detection structure including a stator and a rotor, which are mobile with respect to one another in presence of an external stress and are subject to thermal stress;
a micro-electromechanical compensation structure subject to said thermal stress and invariant with respect to said external stress, the compensation structure being connected to said detection structure thereby said micro-electromechanical compensation structure supplies an output signal correlated to said external stress and compensated in temperature.
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20. A micro-electromechanical structure of semiconductor material, comprising:
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a stator fixed to a stator anchoring portion;
a rotor elastically coupled to a rotor-support element wherein the rotor includes a rotor electrode that is capacitively coupled to the stator to form a first capacitor having a first capacitance;
a compensation electrode fixed to the rotor-support element and capacitively coupled to the stator to form a second capacitor having a second capacitance. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of detecting acceleration with a micro-electromechanical structure of semiconductor material, the method comprising
moving a rotor including a rotor electrode, relative to a rotor-support element, responsive to an external acceleration; -
holding a stator fixed, relative to a stator anchoring portion, in the presence of the external acceleration;
holding a compensation electrode fixed, relative to the rotor-support element, in the presence of the external acceleration; and
moving the rotor electrode and the compensation electrode responsive to a thermal stress. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification