The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 21, 1993
Filed:
May. 29, 1992
John H Jerman, Palo Alto, CA (US);
IC Sensors, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A microactuator of a silicon substrate having a frame with a central circular flexible diaphragm suspended from the substrate by a hinge. The hinge is a layer of silicon dioxide of uniform thickness which is formed by etching a groove in the silicon substrate and then conformally forming a silicon dioxide layer of uniform thickness in the groove. The substrate backside is then etched to the desired diaphragm thickness, exposing the bottom portion of the silicon dioxide layer which thereby becomes the hinge. Further a split hinge structure includes two such hinges which are parallel in part and so overlap in length, with a silicon bridge portion of the diaphragm lying therebetween. The electrical traces which extend from the frame to the central portion of the diaphragm are deposited on the silicon bridge, minimizing the mechanical stress on the traces due to hinge flexing. The resulting structure has low thermal conductivity and sufficient strength to carry the vertical loads generated by the bimetallic diaphragm. The split hinge allows the metal traces to be substantially planar with the original silicon surface.