Chirp Microsystems Inc.

Analog Devices,inc.

Onix Microsystems, Inc.

Pinc Solutions

Other

University of California

Invensense, Inc.

Orix Microsystems, Inc.

Meng-Hsiung Kiang

David Horsley

Richard J Przybyla

Behrang Behin

Stefon Shelton

Michael J Daneman

Andre Guedes

Kam Y Lau

Timothy E Beerling

Satinderpall S Pannu

Kam-Yin Lau

Aleks Göllü

Olav Solgaard

Boris Kobrin

Richard S Muller

Chuang-Chia Lin

Scott D Dalton

Franklin Joseph Wall

Murali Chaparala

Robert A Conant

David Lerner

Mark W Chang

Stephen Panyko

A transducer includes first and second piezoelectric layers made of corresponding different first and second piezoelectric materials and three or more electrodes, implemented in two or more conductive electrode layers. The first piezoelectric layer is sandwiched between a first pair of electrodes and the second piezoelectric layer is sandwiched between a second pair of electrodes. The first and second pairs of electrodes contain no more than one electrode that is common to both pairs.

Micromachined ultrasound transducer using multiple piezoelectric materials

A piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT) device may include a piezoelectric membrane transducer designed to have lower sensitivity to residual stress and reduced sensitivity to geometric variations arising from the backside etching process used to release the membrane. These designs allow some of its key feature to be adjusted to achieve desired characteristics, such as pressure sensitivity, natural frequency, stress sensitivity, and bandwidth.

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers with low stress sensitivity and methods of fabrication

An apparatus comprises an ultrasonic transducer having a first and second electrode and switches which configured to selectively connect the first and second electrodes to a transmit voltage source or to a receive amplifier. The switches are configured to selectively connect a first input of the amplifier to the first electrode of the transducer and to selectively connect a second input of the amplifier to the second electrode of the transducer. The switches are also configured to selectively connect the voltage source to the first and second electrodes of the transducer. The transducer may include a piezoelectric layer attached to and sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode, and a flexible membrane attached to the first electrode. The piezoelectric layer may be patterned to form an annular ring at the outer diameter of the flexible membrane.

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers having differential transmit and receive circuitry

A system and method use an array of ultrasonic transducers to emit and receive sound in a phased array fashion by using acoustic waveguides to achieve a desired acoustic radiation and reception pattern. A chip package attached to an acoustic transducer array includes acoustic waveguides coupled to acoustic ports. Each waveguide is coupled between a corresponding acoustic transducer and a corresponding acoustic port. A spacing of a pair of acoustic ports is different than a spacing of a corresponding pair of acoustic transducers.

Package waveguide for acoustic sensor with electronic delay compensation

A piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducer (PMUT) is disclosed. The PMUT consists of a flexural membrane that is piezoelectrically actuated. These membranes are formed on a first substrate that is bonded to a second substrate. The two substrates are separated by an air gap to allow the PMUT to vibrate. Several methods for joining the two substrates are described.

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using two bonded substrates

A miniature rangefinder includes a housing, a micromachined ultrasonic transducer, and signal processing circuitry. The housing includes a substrate and a lid. The housing has one or more apertures and the micromachined ultrasonic transducer is mounted over an aperture. The micromachined ultrasonic transducer may function as both a transmitter and a receiver. An integrated circuit is configured to drive the transducer to transmit an acoustic signal, detect a return signal, and determine a time of flight between emitting the acoustic signal and detecting the return signal.

Miniature micromachined ultrasonic rangefinder

A piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) device includes a substrate having an opening therethrough and a membrane attached to the substrate over the opening. A portion of the membrane that overlies the opening is divided into a plurality of cantilevers that are mechanically coupled so that the cantilevers resonate at a common frequency.

Micromachined ultrasonic transducers with a slotted membrane structure

A position-tracking system for tracking the position of an object is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the tracking system includes a tracking device that is connected to or otherwise affixed to the object to be tracked. The tracking device may include, among other things, an inertial sensor assembly, radio transceivers and a processor. The position tracking system may also include a host processing system that is in communication with the tracking device. The position tracking system may provide variable-resolution position information based on the environment in which the object is moving. In a 'wide resolution' area, the system may compute a general position for the object based on a wireless telephone network Cell-ID/map correlation architecture. In a high-resolution area, greater position resolution may be realized from the combination of a wireless aiding system and inputs from the inertial sensors. In the high-resolution mode, the system may exploit distinct patterns of motion that can be identified as motion 'signatures' that are characteristic of certain types of motion. Kinematic (or object movement) models may be constructed based on these motion signatures and the position tracking system may estimate the state of the object based on the kinematic model for the current mode of the object. Adaptive and cascaded Kalman filtering may be employed in the analysis to more accurately estimate the position and velocity of the object based on the motion pattern identified.

Position-tracking device for position-tracking system

Position-tracking system

An optical cross-connect switch comprises a base (), a flap () and one or more electrically conductive landing pads () connected to the flap (). The flap () has a bottom portion that is movably coupled to the base () such that the flap () is movable with respect to a plane of the base () from a first orientation to a second orientation. The one or more landing pads () are electrically isolated from the flap () and electrically coupled to be equipotential with a landing surface.

Optical cross-connect system

A beam steering module comprised of a mirror stack array in close proximity to a collimator array controllably steers photons along two axis and in a direction substantially less than 90 degrees to the collimator orientation. Several configurations of the module are described using single and double axis mirror rotation and relay optics. Optical telecommunications switches are shown using modules coupled to each other along flat and curved surfaces, with and without use of fold mirror and enabling a plurality of configuration options including photodetector optical power monitoring schemes that require no external power taps.

Three dimensional optical switches and beam steering modules

A two-dimensional scanner consists of a rotatable gimbal structure with vertical electrostatic comb-drive actuators and sensors. The scanner's two axes of rotation may be controlled independently by activating two sets of vertical comb-drive actuators. The first set of vertical comb-drive actuator is positioned in between a outer frame of the gimbal structure and the base, and the second set of vertical comb-drive actuator is positioned in between the inner part of the gimbal structure and the outer frame of the gimbal structure. The inner part of the gimbal structure may include a reflective surface, and the device may be used as a mirror. Furthermore, the capacitance of the vertical comb-drives may be measured to monitor the angular position of the mirror, and the capacitive position-monitoring signal may be used to implement closed-loop feedback control of the mirror angle. The two-dimensional scanner may be fabricated in a semiconductor process. Two-dimensional scanners may be used to produce fiber-optic switches.

Two-dimensional gimbaled scanning actuator with vertical electrostatic comb-drive for actuation and/or sensing

Disclosed is an apparatus and method for detecting whether rotatable MEMS elements are in the &ldquo;on&rdquo; or &ldquo;off&rdquo; position. Embodiments of the invention have application in devices switches that employ mirrors that move between an &ldquo;on&rdquo; or &ldquo;off&rdquo; position, wherein they reflect light from an input fiber into an output fiber in the &ldquo;on&rdquo; position, and allow the light to pass in the &ldquo;off&rdquo; position. Electrodes are positioned in the device such that the mirrors are close to, and therefor capacitively coupled to, a different electrode depending on whether they are in the &ldquo;on&rdquo; or &ldquo;off&rdquo; position. This invention is especially useful for switches that already employ electrodes for electrostatic clamping of mirrors in one or more positions, since those same electrodes can be used both to electrostatically clamp the mirrors and to sense their position. The method described in this invention comprises sensing of the capacitance between the mirrors and the one or more electrodes used to clamp the mirrors in its one or more position in order to detect which of the positions the mirrors are clamped in. Furthermore, the magnitude of the capacitances can be monitored to detect improper clamping.

Capacitive sensing scheme for digital control state detection in optical switches

A device having a landing pad structure on an underside of a device and method for fabricating same. The device is formed from a device layer with at least one landing pad protruding from an underside thereof. The landing pad is attached to the device layer by a plug passing through an opening in the device layer. The device may be attached to the device layer by one or more compliant flexures, which allow the device to rotate in and out of a plane defined by the device layer. The landing pads are fabricated by forming one or more vias through the device layer. An underlying sacrificial layer is then partially etched to form one or more depressions at locations corresponding to locations of the vias in the device layer. The vias and depressions are then filled with a landing pad material to form a structure having one or more landing pads protruding from an underside of the device layer. The sacrificial layer is subsequently removed to release the device. Particular embodiments of both methods may be applied to fabricating microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) especially MEMS mirrors. The various embodiments are well suited to use with silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates.

Growing community of inventors

Albany, CA, United States of America

Meng-Hsiung Kiang