A microelectromechanical membrane transducer includes: a supporting structure; a cavity formed in the supporting structure; a membrane coupled to the supporting structure so as to cover the cavity on one side; a cantilever damper, which is fixed to the supporting structure around the perimeter of the membrane and extends towards the inside of the membrane at a distance from the membrane; and a damper piezoelectric actuator set on the cantilever damper and configured so as to bend the cantilever damper towards the membrane in response to an electrical actuation signal.

There is provided a vibrational energy harvester comprising: a frame, a flexure assembly coupled to the frame, the flexure assembly comprising a flexure configured to flex in a first direction relative to the frame and a mass fixed to the flexure, wherein when the mass is displaced in the first direction from a rest position, the flexure provides a restoring force on the mass to bring the mass back to the rest position, and a transduction assembly configured to convert movement of the mass and flexure into electrical energy, wherein the frame comprises a cavity positioned so that, if the mass is displaced in the first direction beyond a threshold distance, a portion of the flexure assembly extends into the cavity so that compression or restriction of fluid in the cavity applies an additional force on the flexure assembly.

A microphone with an additional piezoelectric component for energy harvesting is provided, and includes a substrate penetrated through by a cavity, a diaphragm, and a piezoelectric conversion. The diaphragm includes a vibration portion and at least one connecting arm, and two ends of each of the at least one connecting arm are connected to the vibration portion and the substrate, respectively. The piezoelectric conversion component is disposed on one of the at least one connecting arm and configured to convert mechanical energy collected from a displacement of the diaphragm by sound to electrical energy. The piezoelectric conversion component is mounted on the diaphragm, so as to convert the mechanical energy collected from the diaphragm by the sound to the electrical energy, thereby effectively recycling the mechanical energy and avoiding a waste of energy.

A distributed sensor system is disclosed that provides spatial and temporal data in an operating environment. The distributed sensor nodes can be coupled together to form a distributed sensor system. For example, a distributed sensor system comprises a collection of Sensor Nodes (SN) that are physically coupled and are able to collect data about the environment in a distributed manner. For example, a first sensor node and a second sensor node is formed respectively in a first region and a second region of the semiconductor substrate. A flexible interconnect is formed overlying the semiconductor substrate and couples the first sensor node to the second sensor node. A portion of the semiconductor substrate is removed by etching beneath the flexible interconnect such that the distributed sensor system has multiple degrees of freedom that support following surface contours or sudden changes of direction.

A diaphragm for a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) is presented having resonance frequency and bandwidth characteristics which are decoupled from one another into independent variables. Portions of at least the piezoelectric material layer and backside electrode layer are removed in a selected pattern to form structures, such as ribs, in the diaphragm which retains stiffness while reducing overall mass. The patterned structure can be formed by additive, or subtractive, fabrication processes.

An ultrasonic sensor includes a vibration plate, a first electrode, a piezoelectric body, and a second electrode. The first electrode is laminated on the vibration plate, that has a length along a surface of the vibration plate in a first direction, and that has a width Wbe along the surface of the vibration plate in a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction. The width Wbe is not more than the length. The piezoelectric body is laminated on the first electrode and has a width Wpz in the second direction. The second electrode is laminated on the piezoelectric body. A ratio Wbe/Wpz between the width Wbe of the first electrode and the width Wpz of the piezoelectric body is not less than 0.1 and not more than 0.8.

A MEMS piezoelectric device includes a monolithic semiconductor body having first and second main surfaces extending parallel to a horizontal plane formed by first and second horizontal axes. A housing cavity is arranged within the monolithic semiconductor body. A membrane is suspended above the housing cavity at the first main surface. A piezoelectric material layer is arranged above a first surface of the membrane with a proof mass coupled to a second surface, opposite to the first surface, along the vertical axis. An electrode arrangement is provided in contact with the piezoelectric material layer. The proof mass causes deformation of the piezoelectric material layer in response to environmental mechanical vibrations. The proof mass is coupled to the membrane by a connection element arranged, in a central position, between the membrane and the proof mass in the direction of the vertical axis.

A distributed sensor system is disclosed that provides spatial and temporal data in an operating environment. The distributed sensor nodes can be coupled together to form a distributed sensor system. For example, a distributed sensor system comprises a collection of Sensor Nodes (SN) that are physically coupled and are able to collect data about the environment in a distributed manner. For example, a first sensor node and a second sensor node is formed respectively in a first region and a second region of the semiconductor substrate. A flexible interconnect is formed overlying the semiconductor substrate and couples the first sensor node to the second sensor node. A portion of the semiconductor substrate is removed by etching beneath the flexible interconnect such that the distributed sensor system has multiple degrees of freedom that support following surface contours or sudden changes of direction.

A MEMS piezoelectric device includes a monolithic semiconductor body having first and second main surfaces extending parallel to a horizontal plane formed by first and second horizontal axes. A housing cavity is arranged within the monolithic semiconductor body. A membrane is suspended above the housing cavity at the first main surface. A piezoelectric material layer is arranged above a first surface of the membrane with a proof mass coupled to a second surface, opposite to the first surface, along the vertical axis. An electrode arrangement is provided in contact with the piezoelectric material layer. The proof mass causes deformation of the piezoelectric material layer in response to environmental mechanical vibrations. The proof mass is coupled to the membrane by a connection element arranged, in a central position, between the membrane and the proof mass in the direction of the vertical axis.

Structures and formation methods of a semiconductor device structure are provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a substrate and a first dielectric layer formed over the substrate. The semiconductor device structure also includes a first movable membrane formed over the first dielectric layer. In addition, the first movable membrane has a first corrugated portion and a first edge portion connecting to the first corrugated portion. The semiconductor device structure further includes a second dielectric layer formed over the first movable membrane. In addition, the first edge portion is sandwiched between the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer, the first corrugated portion is partially sandwiched between the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer and is partially exposed by a cavity, and a bottom surface of the first corrugated portion is lower than a bottom surface of the first edge portion.