A system includes an array of chemical, pressure, and temperature sensors, and a temporal airflow modulator configured to provide sniffed vapors in a temporally-modulated sequence through a plurality of different air paths across multiple sensor locations.

A piezoelectric sensor (e.g., for use in a piezoelectric MEMS microphone) includes a substrate and a cantilever beam attached to the substrate. The cantilever beam has a proximal portion attached to the substrate and extending to an unsupported distal end. An electrode is disposed on or in the proximal portion of the beam and has an outer boundary with a shape substantially corresponding to a contour line of a strain distribution plot for the cantilever beam resulting from a force applied to the cantilever beam.

In some embodiments, a LIDAR system may include at least one processor configured to control at least one light source for projecting light toward a field of view and receive from at least one first sensor first signals associated with light projected by the at least one light source and reflected from an object in the field of view, wherein the light impinging on the at least one first sensor is in a form of a light spot having an outer boundary. The processor may further be configured to receive from at least one second sensor second signals associated with light noise, wherein the at least one second sensor is located outside the outer boundary; determine, based on the second signals received from the at least one second sensor, an indicator of a magnitude of the light noise; and determine, based on the indicator the first signals received from the at least one first sensor and, a distance to the object.

In one example, a method comprises forming a first layer on a substrate surface, forming an opening in the first layer, forming a second layer on the first layer and in the opening, and forming a photoresist layer on the second layer, in which the photoresist layer has a first curved surface over a first part of the first layer and over the opening. The method further comprises etching the photoresist layer and a second part of the second layer over the first part of the first layer to form a second curved surface on the second part of the second layer, and forming a mirror element and a support structure in the second layer, including by etching a third part of the second layer and removing the first layer.

Embodiments of the disclosure include a scanning mirror assembly for an optical sensing system. The scanning mirror assembly may include a scanning mirror formed in a first layer of the scanning mirror assembly. The scanning mirror assembly may also include a MEMS actuator formed in a second layer of the scanning mirror assembly, where the first layer is a predetermined distance above the second layer. The MEMS actuator may also include a plurality of stator actuator features and a plurality of rotatable actuator features formed from a same semiconductor layer during a fabrication process.

The MEMS gyroscope has a mobile mass carried by a supporting structure to move in a driving direction and in a first sensing direction, perpendicular to each other. A driving structure governs movement of the mobile mass in the driving direction at a driving frequency. A movement sensing structure is coupled to the mobile mass and detects the movement of the mobile mass in the sensing direction. A quadrature-injection structure is coupled to the mobile mass and causes a first and a second movement of the mobile mass in the sensing direction in a first calibration half-period and, respectively, a second calibration half-period. The movement-sensing structure supplies a sensing signal having an amplitude switching between a first and a second value that depend upon the movement of the mobile mass as a result of an external angular velocity and of the first and second quadrature movements. The first and second values of the sensing signal are subtracted from each other and compared with a stored difference value to supply information of variation of the scale factor.

A sensor, such as a piezoelectric MEMS vibration sensor, includes a frame, a beam array comprising a plurality of beams, and a plurality of masses. Each beam of the plurality of beams has an anchored end and an unanchored end, with each beam being coupled to the frame at the anchored end. The unanchored end of each beam is coupled to a respective mass of the plurality of masses. Each beam of the plurality of beams can be configured to minimize a variation in a voltage output for a limited frequency range. In some implementations, the resonant frequency of each beam corresponds to a sensitivity peak in a limited frequency range.

A system to spatially modulate light includes an optical reflector to reflect the light. The optical reflector has an actuator that includes a stator and a rotor. The system further includes a controller in communication with the optical reflector. The controller is to drive the optical reflector by applying an excitation voltage between the rotor and the stator. Further, the controller is to apply a baseline voltage between the rotor and the stator, and to detect, during a voltage-off period of the excitation voltage, an induced current induced by the rotor moving relative to the stator. Furthermore, the controller is to determine a current attribute of the induced current and to determine a movement attribute of the optical reflector based on the current attribute.

A phased array system comprising an array of antennas outputting or receiving electromagnetic radiation to or from a steerable direction, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is at submillimeter wavelengths. The system further comprises a plurality of waveguides outputting or receiving the signals to or from the antennas, each of the waveguides with individual phase tuning. The waveguides are configured and dimensioned to guide an electromagnetic wave comprising the signals having a frequency in a range of 100 gigahertz (GHz) to 1000 terahertz (THz). The system further comprises means for phase shifting the signal by means of shifting or varying one or more phases of the signals relative to one another so as to vary, steer, or scan a direction of the electromagnetic radiation.

Described examples include an apparatus having a substrate with a substrate surface. The apparatus also includes an element with a planar surface facing the substrate surface and with a nonplanar surface opposite the planar surface facing away from the substrate surface.