Pressure measurement device having an optimized sensitivity

• US 9,157,821 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2012
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (AES Corporation)
• Inventors: Robert, Philippe, Jourdan, Guillaume
• Primary Examiner(s): Caputo, Lisa
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Tran M
• Application Number:
  US13/538,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20130000411A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 737/08
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/0127 Diaphragms, i.e. structures separating two media that can control the passage from one medium to another; Membranes, i.e. diaphragms with filtering function
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/0154 Torsion bars
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/0307 Anchors
• CPC Class Codes: B81B 2203/053 Translation according to an axis perpendicular to the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/001 of an element not provided for in the following subgroups of G01L9/0008
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0019 of a semiconductive element
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0052 of piezoresistive elements circuits therefor G01L9/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/006 of metallic strain gauges fixed to an element other than the pressure transmitting diaphragm
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0073 using a semiconductive diaphragm

Abstract

A MEMS and/or NEMS pressure measurement device includes a deformable membrane suspended on a substrate, one of the faces of the membrane configured to be subjected to a pressure to be measured, a detector configured to detect deformation of the membrane and being provided at least partly on the substrate; and a non-deformable transmission device configured to transmit the deformation of the membrane to the detector, said transmission device rotatably hinged to the substrate about an axis substantially parallel to the plane of the membrane and being provided facing another face of the membrane opposite to said one of the faces, such that at least beyond a given pressure said transmission device and the membrane are movably integral with each other, and such that the transmission device transmits to the detector, in an amplified manner, the deformation or the stress from the deformation of the membrane.

Claims

1. A MEMS and/or NEMS pressure measurement device, comprising:

at least one deformable membrane suspended on a substrate, a face of the membrane being configured to be subjected to a pressure to be measured;

a detector configured to detect deformation of the deformable membrane, said detector being provided at least partly on the substrate;

a transmission device configured to transmit the deformation of the deformable membrane to the detector, said transmission device being non-deformable; and

a hinging element, which rotatably hinges the transmission device to the substrate about an axis substantially parallel to the plane of the membrane and being provided facing another face of the membrane opposite to the face configured to be subjected to the pressure to be measured, such that at least beyond a given pressure said transmission device and the membrane are movably integral with each other, and such that the transmission device transmits to the detector, in an amplified manner, the deformation or the stress from the deformation of the membrane.

2. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device and the membrane are movably integral with each other at least beyond the given pressure, in a maximum deformation area of the membrane.

3. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device comprises at least one longitudinal arm comprising at least one first end at which the detector is located and a second end at which the arm is integral with the membrane at least beyond the given pressure.

4. The pressure measurement device according to claim 3, wherein the second end of the arm is mechanically integral with the membrane regardless of the pressure value.

5. The pressure measurement device according to claim 3, wherein a spacing is provided between the second end of the arm and the membrane for a pressure lower than the given pressure.

6. The pressure measurement device according to claim 5, wherein the arm is electrically connected to the membrane.

7. The pressure measurement device according to claim 5, wherein the given pressure is equal or less than the pressure to be measured.

8. The pressure measurement device according to claim 4, wherein the longitudinal arm is integral with the membrane through a connection being flexible along the longitudinal axis of the arm and rigid along an axis of deformation of the membrane.

9. The pressure measurement device according to claim 3, the hinging element including at least one torsion beam connecting the first end of the longitudinal arm to the detector, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal arm, the rotation axis being formed by said torsion beam which is secured on the one hand to the first end of the arm and on the other hand to the substrate and to the detector.

10. The pressure measurement device according claim 3, wherein the transmission device further comprises at least one flexure beam, substantially parallel to the longitudinal arm, the rotation axis being formed by said flexure beam which is secured on the one hand to the longitudinal arm and on the other hand to the substrate.

11. The pressure measurement device according to claim 10, wherein the longitudinal arm has a “

U”

pattern, this pattern comprising two ends corresponding to said first ends, the latter being respectively connected to the detector through side extension beams.

12. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising at least one element for rigidifying the membrane by forming at least one extra-thickness area on the membrane.

13. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device comprises at least one longitudinal arm comprising at least one first end at which the detector is located and a second end at which the arm is integral with the membrane at least beyond the given pressure, a counterweight is attached to the arm at the first end of the arm.

14. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising several deformable membranes subjected to the same pressure, the transmission device and all the membranes being movably integral with each other at least beyond the given pressure.

15. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising a stop provided facing the membrane opposite the face of the membrane which is subjected to the pressure so as to restrict the deformation thereof.

16. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising a cap on the substrate and defining a cavity about the membrane opposite the face subjected to the pressure to be measured.

17. The pressure measurement device according to claim 16, wherein the face of the membrane which is subjected to the pressure to be measured and the environment the pressure of which is to be measured are communicated through the cap and/or between the cap and the substrate.

18. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the detector comprises at least one suspended strain gauge connected by one end to the substrate through an anchor pad and by another end to a torsion beam or to the transmission arm.

19. The pressure measurement device according to claim 18, wherein the detector comprises at least one suspended strain gauge connected by one end to the substrate through an anchor pad and by another end to the torsion beam or to the transmission arm and wherein the detector comprises two strain gauges attached by one end to the torsion beam on either side thereof and by another end to the substrate through anchor pads.

20. The pressure measurement device according to claim 18, the hinging element including at least one torsion beam connecting the first end of the longitudinal arm to the detector, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal arm, the rotation axis being formed by the at least one torsion beam which is secured on the one hand to the first end of the arm and on the other hand to the substrate and to the detector, and wherein the detector comprises at least one resonator connected by one end to the at least one torsion beam and by another end to an anchor pad on the substrate, an excitation device of the resonator, and a device for detecting the resonant frequency of the resonator.

21. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the detector is of the variable capacitance type.

22. The pressure measurement device according to claim 21, wherein the detector comprises at least one first fixed electrode on the substrate and at least one first movable electrode integral with the transmission device and facing the at least one first fixed electrode.

23. The pressure measurement device according to claim 22, comprising at least one second fixed electrode and at least one second movable electrode, said at least one second fixed electrode and said at least one second movable electrode being located opposite the at least one first fixed electrode and said at least one first movable electrode with respect to the rotation axis so as to form a differential measurement device.

24. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising an active device for compensating static pressure.

25. The pressure measurement device according to claim 24, wherein the active device for compensating static pressure comprises a pair of electrodes, one of the electrodes being integral with the transmission device and the pair of electrodes being located on the side of the membrane with respect to the axis of rotation of the transmission device on the substrate and the membrane.

26. The pressure measurement device according to claim 24, wherein the active device for compensating the static pressure comprises an electrode formed below the membrane on the substrate.

27. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising a device for performing self-tests and/or a self-calibration.

28. The pressure measurement device according to claim 27, wherein the device for performing self-tests and/or a self-calibration comprise a pair of electrodes, one of the electrodes being integral with the transmission device, the pair of electrodes being opposite the membrane with respect to the axis of rotation of the transmission device on the substrate.

29. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising a cap on the substrate and defining a cavity about the membrane opposite the face subjected to the pressure to be measured and wherein the cavity is tight and wherein a vacuum is made in said tight cavity to form an absolute pressure sensor.

30. The pressure measurement device according to claim 1, comprising a cap on the substrate and defining a cavity about the membrane opposite the face subjected to the pressure to be measured and wherein the cavity is connected to the external environment to form a relative pressure sensor or a microphone.

31. A MEMS and/or NEMS assembly comprising at least one pressure measurement device according to claim 1 and at least one inertial sensor made on and in the same substrate.