International Business Machines Corporation

Tokyo Electron Limited

Stmicroelectronics Gmbh

Other

Mehmet Yilmaz

Lars W Liebmann

Yann Mignot

Terry Allen Spooner

Joe Lee

Douglas M Trickett

Yannick Feurprier

Abdullah Atalar

Hayrettin Koymen

Itir Koymen

Akif Sinan Tasdelen

Some preferred embodiments include a microphone system for receiving sound waves, the microphone including a back plate, a radiation plate, first and second electrodes, first and second insulator layers, a power source and a microphone controller. The radiation plate is clamped to the back plate so that there is a hermetically sealed regular convex polygon-, ellipse-, or regular convex elliptic polygon-shaped gap between the radiation plate and the back plate. The first electrode is fixedly attached to a side of the back plate proximate to the gap. The second electrode is fixedly attached to a side of the radiation plate. The insulator layers are attached to the back plate and/or the radiation plate, on respective gap sides thereof, so that the insulator layers are between the electrodes. The microphone controller is configured to use the power source to drive the microphone at a selected operating point comprising normalized static mechanical force, bias voltage, and relative bias voltage level. Relevant dimensions of the gap, and a thickness of the radiation plate, are determined using the selected operating point so that a sensitivity of the microphone at the selected operating point is an optimum sensitivity for the selected operating point.

High performance sealed-gap capacitive microphone with various gap geometries

A method for forming a via in an integrated circuit comprises patterning a first opening in a first hardmask, the first hardmask disposed on a first organic self-planarizing polymer (OPL) layer, removing an exposed portion of the first OPL layer to define a cavity, removing an exposed portion of a second hardmask in the cavity, removing an exposed portion of a first dielectric layer disposed under the second hardmask to further define the cavity, removing an exposed portion of a first cap layer in the cavity, removing an exposed portion of a second dielectric layer to further define the cavity, removing an exposed portion of a second cap layer to further define the cavity, removing an exposed portion of a liner layer over a second conductive material in the cavity, and depositing a conductive material in the cavity.

Self aligned via in integrated circuit

Growing community of inventors

Ankara, Turkey

Mehmet Yilmaz