A MEMS AE transducer system is provided that takes advantage of the low power consumption and lightweight characteristics of MEMS AE transducers, while also achieving higher sensing sensitivity. To address the problem of low sensitivity typically associated with MEMS AE transducers, electrical responses of multiple MEMS AE transducers operating at different frequency ranges are combined to increase the bandwidth and sensitivity of the MEMS AE transducer system. As the frequencies are constructive, the combined response on a single channel is the actual summation of two signals with an improved signal to noise ratio. Additionally, each frequency can be decomposed because they are well separated from each other due to the super narrowband response and high Quality factor of MEMS AE transducers.

The present invention discloses an SOC PMUT suitable for high-density system integration, an array chip and a manufacturing method thereof. With the SOC PMUT suitable for high-density system integration, vertical stacking and monolithic integration of a SOC PMUT array with CMOS auxiliary circuits is realized by means of direct bonding of active wafers and a vertical multi-channel metal wiring structure; in addition, the extension to the package layer is implemented by means of TSVs, without any bonding mini-pad on the periphery of the array for communication with the CMOS. Thus, the bottleneck of metal interconnections in conventional ultrasonic transducers is overcome, the chip area occupied by metal interconnections in ultrasonic transducers is greatly reduced, the metal wiring length is reduced, thus the resulting adverse effects of an electrical parasitic effect on the performance of the ultrasonic transducer array are reduced.

An ultrasound transducer device includes: a first insulating layer formed on a first integrated circuit substrate; a second insulating layer formed on the first insulating layer; a third insulating layer formed on the second insulating layer, and a second substrate bonded to the first integrated circuit. A first cavity is formed in the third insulating layer. The second substrate is bonded to the first integrated circuit such that the first cavity is sealed.

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.

Devices for ultrasonic transmission and/or reception having a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT). The device employs a material such as lithium niobate as a piezoelectric layer in a membrane suspended over a cavity. Two activation electrodes on an upper surface of the membrane can activate one or more flexural modes of mechanical vibration in the membrane, the flexural modes of vibration including a displacement in a cross-sectional plane of the membrane. The device can be used individually or in an array. The device can be configured for use in a liquid medium or in biological tissue. A method of operating an ultrasonic transducer is provided. A method of fabrication of an ultrasonic transducer is provided.

A microelectromechanical resonator includes a resonator member suspended over a surface of a substrate by at least one anchor that is connected to the substrate. The resonator member includes outer and inner frames that are concentrically arranged and mechanically coupled by support structures extending therebetween. Related apparatus and gyroscopes are also discussed.

A method of forming an ultrasonic transducer device includes bonding a membrane to seal a transducer cavity with at least a portion of a getter material layer being exposed, the getter material layer comprising a portion of a bilayer stack compatible for use in damascene processing.

A method of forming an ultrasound transducer device includes bonding a membrane to a substrate so as to form a sealed cavity between the membrane and the substrate. An exposed surface located within the sealed cavity includes a getter material that is electrically isolated from a bottom electrode of the cavity.

A method of characterizing frequency fluctuations of a resonator comprising the steps of: a) driving the resonator, in a linear regime, by simultaneously applying two periodical driving signals having respective frequencies, the frequencies being different from each other and from a resonant frequency of the resonator, but contained within a resonance linewidth thereof; b) performing simultaneous measurements of response signal of the resonator at the frequencies of the periodical driving signal; and c) computing a value representative of a correlation between the measurements, the value being indicative of frequency fluctuations of the resonator. An apparatus for implementing such a method is provided.

A semiconductor layer having an opening and a MEMS resonator formed in the opening is disposed between first and second substrates to encapsulate the MEMS resonator. An electrical contact that extends from the opening to an exterior of the MEMS device is formed at least in part within the semiconductor layer and at least in part within the first substrate.