Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho

Sanae Tokumitsu

Kouji Tsukada

Masaharu Takeuchi

Yutaka Nonomura

Yoshiteru Omura

Takeshi Morikawa

Sadayuki Hayashi

Kazuyoshi Kawaguchi

the present invention provides a force transducer having high compression fracture strength and high detection sensitivity, thus satisfying both detection precision and reliability, and also a method of fabricating such a force transducer. The force transducer is so constructed that a compression force is transferred via a pressure transfer block to narrow strain gages, which protrude from the surface of a silicon substrate and provide a small pressure-bearing area. Therefore, large compression strains act on the strain gages and thus the detection sensitivity is increased. When the compression force exceeds a predetermined value, the pressure transfer block comes into contact with the surface of the silicon crystal, thus improving the fracture strength of the strain gages. These narrow, protruding strain gages can be fabricated easily by a single mesa etching process.

Force transducer and method of fabrication thereof

A semiconductor pressure transducer for detecting a pressure applied to a diaphragm. The pressure transducer comprises a diaphragm and a pressure detector including an Si single crystal which is so formed as to have a crystal face of {110 } as the surface to which a compression force is applied, and which is attached to the pressure detector such that the crystal face is parallel to the diaphragm, a first pair of opposing electrodes provided on the Si single crystal in the direction having an angle of 45 degrees with the direction of &lt;001&gt; on the crystal face of {110 } and a second pair of opposing electrodes provided on the Si single crystal in the direction having an angle of 45 degrees with the direction of &lt;110&gt; of the Si single crystal, either of the first or second pair of electrodes serving as output electrodes and the other pair serving as input electrodes and composite seat with one end thereof bonded to the crystal face of {110 } of the Si single crystal so as to transmit the pressure applied to the diaphragm perpendicularly to the crystal face of the Si single crystal as a compression force. The pressure applied to the diaphragm acts perpendicularly to the crystal face of the Si single crystal as a compression force and the output electrodes output a voltage corresponding to the compression force.

Semiconductor pressure transducer

Growing community of inventors

Aichi, Japan

Sanae Tokumitsu