A low-profile packaging structure for a microelectromechanical-system (MEMS) resonator system includes an electrical lead having internal and external electrical contact surfaces at respective first and second heights within a cross-sectional profile of the packaging structure and a die-mounting surface at an intermediate height between the first and second heights. A resonator-control chip is mounted to the die-mounting surface of the electrical lead such that at least a portion of the resonator-control chip is disposed between the first and second heights and wire-bonded to the internal electrical contact surface of the electrical lead. A MEMS resonator chip is mounted to the resonator-control chip in a stacked die configuration and the MEMS resonator chip, resonator-control chip and internal electrical contact and die-mounting surfaces of the electrical lead are enclosed within a package enclosure that exposes the external electrical contact surface of the electrical lead at an external surface of the packaging structure.

Substrate is produced by using a MEMS technique to form multiple diaphragms in a substrate by forming piezoelectric material layer on one surface of the substrate and thereafter by forming openings in the substrate from the other surface of the substrate; substrate and substrate on which signal detection circuit is formed are aligned to each other using at least one of multiple diaphragms as alignment diaphragm; and substrate and substrate are bonded together.

A transducer includes a piezoelectric element that includes a piezoelectric membrane which is interposed between a pair of electrodes, a membrane body that includes a vibration membrane displaceable in a membrane thickness direction, the piezoelectric element being laminated on the vibration membrane, a package that includes an internal space which houses the piezoelectric element and the membrane body, and an abutment pad that is disposed in the internal space and limits displacement of the vibration membrane by abutting the piezoelectric element or the vibration membrane when the vibration membrane is displaced in the membrane thickness direction.

A MEMS sensor includes a through hole to allow communication with an external environment, such as to send or receive acoustic signals or to be exposed to the ambient environment. In addition to the information that is being measured, light energy may also enter the environment of the sensor via the through hole, causing short-term or long-term effects on measurements or system components. A light mitigating structure is formed on or attached to a lid of the MEMS die to absorb or selectively reflect the received light in a manner that limits effects on the measurements or interest and system components.

A quartz pressure sensor that resonates in the thickness-shear mode can include a center resonator structure and first and second caps joined to the center resonator structure by bond joints. Each bond joint is comprised of a sealing glass having thickness less than 0.0012 inches (˜30 μm) and a melting point less than 573° C. The quartz pressure sensor can additionally include an inner diameter edge feature formed between the interior sidewall in the joint sidewall of the caps that reduces stresses at the bond joints and/or a high stress point in the cap bore.

A method is disclosed comprising determining a concentration of one or more compounds of a fluid in an industrial water operation in real time. The determining of the concentration of the one or more components comprises contacting an array of sensors of a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device with a sample of the fluid to provide a sample response indicative of the concentration of the one or more components. The method further provides adjusting or maintaining at least one operating parameter of the industrial water operation based on the concentration of the one or more components of the fluid.

Provided are a chip packaging method and a chip packaging structure. A passivation layer is provided on a pad of a wafer, a first metal bonding layer is then formed on the passivation layer, a second metal bonding layer is formed on a substrate, the substrate and the wafer are bonded and packaged together through bonding of the first metal bonding layer and the second metal bonding layer, a first shielding layer is provided on the substrate, and the first shielding layer is connected to the second metal bonding layer; and after the wafer and the substrate are bonded, semi-cutting is performed on the wafer until the first metal bonding layer is exposed, and a second shielding layer is then formed, and the second shielding layer is electrically connected to the first metal bonding layer, such that an electromagnetic shielding structure jointly composed of the first shielding layer, the second metal bonding layer, the second shielding layer and the first metal bonding layer is obtained. The shielding structure is thus approximately closed, thereby improving the electromagnetic shielding effect.

Microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices and associated methods are disclosed. Piezoelectric MEMS transducers (PMUTs) suitable for integration with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit (IC), as well as PMUT arrays having high fill factor for fingerprint sensing, are described.

A semiconductor device includes a first silicon layer disposed between second and third silicon layers and separated therefrom by respective first and second oxide layers. A cavity within the first silicon layer is bounded by interior surfaces of the second and third silicon layers, and a passageway extends through the second silicon layer to enable material removal from within the semiconductor device to form the cavity. A metal feature is disposed within the passageway to hermetically seal the cavity.

Aspects of this disclosure relate to driving a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with a pulse train of unipolar pulses. The CMUT may be electrically excited with a pulse train of unipolar pulses such that the CMUT operates in a continuous wave mode. In some embodiments, the CMUT may have a contoured electrode.