Piezoelectric MEMS microphone
First Claim
1. A piezoelectric MEMS microphone, comprising:
- a substrate; and
a multi-layer acoustic sensor comprising a plurality of cantilevered beams, each beam comprising a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode layer, each beam extending between a fixed end supported by the substrate and a free end free from the substrate, wherein the free ends of at least two of the beams face one another and are separated by a gap.
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Abstract
A piezoelectric MEMS microphone comprising a multi-layer sensor that includes at least one piezoelectric layer between two electrode layers, with the sensor being dimensioned such that it provides a near maximized ratio of output energy to sensor area, as determined by an optimization parameter that accounts for input pressure, bandwidth, and characteristics of the piezoelectric and electrode materials. The sensor can be formed from single or stacked cantilevered beams separated from each other by a small gap, or can be a stress-relieved diaphragm that is formed by deposition onto a silicon substrate, with the diaphragm then being stress relieved by substantial detachment of the diaphragm from the substrate, and then followed by reattachment of the now stress relieved diaphragm.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A piezoelectric MEMS microphone, comprising:
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a substrate; and a multi-layer acoustic sensor comprising a plurality of cantilevered beams, each beam comprising a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode layer, each beam extending between a fixed end supported by the substrate and a free end free from the substrate, wherein the free ends of at least two of the beams face one another and are separated by a gap. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A piezoelectric MEMS microphone, comprising:
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a silicon substrate; a first and a second cantilevered beam, each extending between a fixed end supported by the substrate and a free end free from the substrate, the first and second beams collinearly arranged along their respective longitudinal axes, the free ends of the first and second beams adjacent each other and separated by a gap, each beam comprising a deposited layer of electrode material and a deposited layer of piezoelectric material overlying the electrode material; wherein at least some of the beams are stacked such that the stacked beams include alternative layers of deposited electrode material and deposited piezoelectric material with no additional layers therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification