Resonance Semiconductor Corporation

Cymatics Laboratories Corp.

Other

Rajarishi Sinha

L Richard Carley

Hugo Fernando Safar

David Francois Guillou

Deok-Yang Kim

Louis Caley Chomas

Peter Ledel Gammel

Marco Mastrapasqua

A resonator device comprising a piezoelectric material and at least one electrode, the device also provided with a material with a positive coefficient of stiffness, wherein the material is disposed in the device as an electrode or as a separate layer adjacent the piezoelectric material formed as one or more layers in the device. The material that performs the temperature compensating function is selected from the group consisting of ferromagnetic metal alloys, shape-memory metal alloys, and polymers, wherein the selected material has a temperature coefficient that varies with the relative amounts of the individual constituents of the compositions and wherein the composition is selected to provide the material with the positive coefficient of stiffness.

Temperature drift compensation of MEMS resonators

A bulk acoustic wave resonator structure that isolates the core resonator from both environmental effects and aging effects. The structure has a piezoelectric layer at least partially disposed between two electrodes. The structure is protected against contamination, package leaks, and changes to the piezoelectric material due to external effects while still providing inertial resistance. The structure has one or more protective elements that limit aging effects to at or below a specified threshold. The resonator behavior is stabilized across the entire bandwidth of the resonance, not just at the series resonance. Examples of protective elements include a collar of material around the core resonator so that perimeter and edge-related environmental and aging phenomena are kept away from the core resonator, a Bragg reflector formed above or below the piezoelectric layer and a cap formed over the piezoelectric layer. The resonator structure is suspended in a cavity in a cap structure.

Protected resonator

A MEMS or NEMS device with at least one component made of a non-naturally occurring isotope material. The refined isotopic material provides advantages to device operation such as reduced mechanical loss, increased breakdown voltage, improved tunability and other advantages.

MEMS devices made with isotopic materials

Methods that create an array of BAW resonators by patterning a mass load layer to control the resonant frequency of the resonators and resonators formed thereby, are disclosed. Patterning the surface of a mass load layer and introducing apertures with dimensions smaller than the acoustic wavelength, or dimpling the mass load layer, modifies the acoustic path length of the resonator, thereby changing the resonant frequency of the device. Patterns of variable density allow for further tuning the resonators and for individualized tuning of a resonator in an array of resonators. Patterning a reflowable material for the mass load layer, thereby providing a variable pattern density and distribution followed by elevating the temperature of the mass load layer above its melting point causes the material to liquefy and fill into the apertures to redistribute the mass load layer, thereby, upon subsequent cooling, providing resonators with a predetermined desired resonant frequency.

Manufacturing method of an array of BAW resonators with mask controlled resonant frequencies

A tunable acoustic resonator device has a piezoelectric medium as a first thin film layer and a tunable crystal medium as a second thin film layer. The tunable crystal medium has a first acoustic behavior over an operating temperature range under a condition of relatively low applied stress and a second acoustic behavior under a condition of relatively high applied stress. The acoustic behaviors are substantially different and, consequently, the different levels of applied stress are used to tune the acoustic resonator device. Compared with the tunable resonator device consisting of only tunable crystal medium, a device having both the piezoelectric and tunable crystal medium has advantages such as larger inherent bandwidth and less nonlinearity with AC signals. The device also requires a smaller applied stress (i.e. bias voltage) to achieve the required frequency tuning.

Devices having a tunable acoustic path length and methods for making same

The present invention is directed to monolithic integrated circuits incorporating an oscillator element that is particularly suited for use in timing applications. The oscillator element includes a resonator element having a piezoelectric material disposed between a pair of electrodes. The oscillator element also includes an acoustic confinement structure that may be disposed on either side of the resonator element. The acoustic confinement element includes alternating sets of low and high acoustic impedance materials. A temperature compensation layer may be disposed between the piezoelectric material and at least one of the electrodes. The oscillator element is monolithically integrated with an integrated circuit element through an interconnection. The oscillator element and the integrated circuit element may be fabricated sequentially or concurrently.

Integrated acoustic bandgap devices for energy confinement and methods of fabricating same

A bulk acoustic wave resonator structure that isolates the core resonator from both environmental effects and aging effects. The structure has a piezoelectric layer at least partially disposed between two electrodes. The structure is protected against contamination, package leaks, and changes to the piezoelectric material due to external effects while still providing inertial resistance. The structure has one or more protective elements that limit aging effects to at or below a specified threshold. The resonator behavior is stabilized across the entire bandwidth of the resonance, not just at the series resonance. Examples of protective elements include a collar of material around the core resonator so that perimeter and edge-related environmental and aging phenomena are kept away from the core resonator, a Bragg reflector formed above or below the piezoelectric layer and a cap formed over the piezoelectric layer.

A switchable power combiner is disclosed. The switchable power combiner has an output section that is a signal source connected to a transformer section. The transformer section has one or more primaries and a common secondary. The transformer primaries and secondary are acoustically coupled. The primaries or/and the secondary are made of switchable piezoelectric material, such that the acoustic coupling between any primary and the secondary can be switched on or off by electrical control, thereby implementing a switchable power combiner. The transformer secondary is connected to an antenna port. The power amplifier output section is segmented and connected to the transformer primaries. The power amplifier output section has a plurality of power amplifiers and a plurality of reactance elements, either fixed or variable. The switchable power combiner generates different linear load lines by switching on and off the coupling between any primary and the secondary.

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Rajarishi Sinha