An actuator includes an arm starting end having a piezoelectric element, a first end of the arm starting end connected to an inner side of a fixed frame, the arm starting end extending in a straight line, along a Y-axis direction through a gap between the fixed frame and a mirror surface, from the first end to beyond a middle point of an outer side of the mirror surface; an arm terminating end including a first end connected to the middle point of the outer side of the mirror surface, the arm terminating end extending parallel to the arm starting end; and an arm relay that connects a second end of the arm starting end to a second end of the arm terminating end, the arm relay being formed in a zigzag.

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 micromechanical device for transducing acoustic waves in a propagation medium, comprising: a body; a first electrode structure superimposed to the body and electrically insulated from the body, the first electrode structure and the body defining between them a first buried cavity; and a first piezoelectric element superimposed to the first electrode structure, wherein the body, the first electrode structure, and the buried cavity form a first capacitive ultrasonic transducer, and the first electrode structure and the first piezoelectric element form a first piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer.

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 include piezoelectric acoustic transducers and systems for acoustic transduction. In some aspects, an acoustic transducer is structured with a silicon substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, where the top surface has a first portion and an edge along the first portion associated with an acoustic aperture. The transducer has a first silicon oxide layer disposed over the first portion of the top surface of the silicon substrate, a polysilicon layer disposed over the first silicon oxide layer, and a second silicon oxide layer disposed over the polysilicon layer. A cantilevered beam comprising a fixed end, a deflection end, a top surface, and a bottom surface, has a first portion of the bottom surface at the fixed end disposed over the second silicon oxide layer, where a second portion of the bottom surface at the deflection end is formed over the acoustic aperture. In some aspects. transducer elements are reconfigurable between parallel and serial configurations depending on a system operating mode.

A mechanical connection is provided for a microelectromechanical and/or nanoelectromechanical device for measuring a variation in pressure. The device includes a fixed component extending in a main plane, a mobile component to move or deform in an out-of-plane direction under effect of a variation in pressure, and a detector of movement or deformation having at least one mobile element. The mechanical connection includes: a lever arm; a first connection connecting the mobile component to a first end of the lever arm, the first connection transmitting out-of-plane movement of the mobile component to the first end of the lever arm while allowing out-of-plane rotation of the lever arm about a direction of rotation; a second connection connected to the second end of the lever arm to allow mainly an out-of-plane rotation of the lever arm about an axis of rotation extending in the direction of rotation; a third connection connecting the lever arm to the detector at a given distance from the axis of rotation in the out-of-plane direction, the third connection being designed to convert the rotation of the lever arm about the axis of rotation into a translation in the plane of the at least one mobile element in a direction of translation.

Described are transducer assemblies and imaging devices comprising: a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) die including a plurality of piezoelectric elements; a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) die electrically coupled to the MEMS die by a first plurality of bumps and including at least one circuit for controlling the plurality of piezoelectric elements; and a package secured to the CMOS die by an adhesive layer and electrically connected to the CMOS die.

A method of forming a MEMS device includes providing a substrate having a device stopper. The device stopper is integral to the substrate and formed of the substrate material. A thermal dielectric isolation layer may be arranged over the device stopper and the substrate. A device cavity may be formed in the substrate and the thermal dielectric isolation layer. The thermal dielectric isolation layer and the device stopper at least partially surround the device cavity. An active device layer may be formed over the thermal dielectric isolation layer and the device cavity.

The improved scanning MEMS mirror device disclosed herein comprises a mirror body that is rotatable around a rotation axis with respect to a stationary body, wherein a rotation of the mirror body is flexibly restrained with at least one coupling element that biases the mirror body towards a neutral state. The coupling element comprises at least a bridge section and a first leaf spring section and a second leaf spring section. The first leaf spring section extends in an extension direction from a first end thereof at the bridge section towards a second end thereof that is connected to the mirror body. The second leaf spring section extends in an extension direction from a first end thereof at the bridge section towards a second end thereof where it is connected to the stationary body. The extension direction of the first leaf spring section and the extension direction of the second leaf spring section are at least substantially the same as the second planar direction. The leaf spring sections have a thickness defined in a direction orthogonal to the reference plane that is smaller than their width, defined in said first planar direction. The construction of the improved scanning MEMS mirror device results in an increased eigenfrequency of undesirable eigenmodes.

A resonator that includes a vibrating portion that has a piezoelectric film, and a lower and upper electrodes that face each other with the piezoelectric film interposed therebetween. Moreover, a holding portion is provided at least around a maximum displacement region of the vibrating portion and has an insulating film. A holding arm connects the vibrating portion and the holding portion, and include a conductive portion that is in contact with the insulating film of the holding portion in at least a region that faces the maximum displacement region of the vibrating portion. In addition, the conductive portion is electrically connected to the lower electrode or the upper electrode or is grounded.