The invention relates to a miniature kinetic energy harvester (1) for generating electrical energy, comprising: —a support (2), —a first element (3) having walls (32-35) surrounding at least one cavity (31), —at least one spring (4) mounted between the first element (3) and the support (2), the spring (4) being arranged so that the first element (3) may be brought into oscillation relative to the support (2) according to at least one direction (X) of oscillation, —a transducer (5) arranged between the first element (3) and the support (2) for converting oscillation of the first element (3) relative to the support (2) into an electrical signal, —at least one second element (7) housed within the cavity (31) and mounted to freely move within the cavity (31) relative to the first element (3) so as to impact the walls (32-35) of the cavity (31) when the harvester (1) is subjected to vibrations.

An accelerometer comprising: a frame; a first proof mass suspended from the frame by one or more flexures to move relative to the frame along a first axis; a first resonant element assembly fixed between the frame and the first proof mass, wherein movement of the proof mass along the first axis relative to the frame exerts a strain on the first resonant element that affects its resonant behaviour; a second proof mass suspended from the frame by one or more flexures to move relative to the frame along a second axis, a second resonant element assembly fixed between the frame and the second proof mass, wherein movement of the second proof mass along the second axis relative to the frame exerts a strain on the second resonant element that affects its resonant behaviour; wherein the second proof mass surrounds the first proof mass and the first resonant element assembly.

A vibration sensor/accelerometer includes, in various implementations, a MEMS die that includes a plate having an aperture, an anchor disposed within the aperture, a plurality of arms (e.g., rigid arms) extending from the anchor, and a plurality of resilient members (e.g., looped or folded springs with a carefully designed spring stiffness), each resilient member connecting the plate to an arm of the plurality of arms. The plate may be made from a solid layer in which the resilient members are etched from the same layer. The MEMS die may also include top and bottom wafers, and travel stoppers extending from the top and bottom wafers as well as through the plate.

A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device includes a silicon substrate; and a Tantalum (Ta) layer comprising a first portion and a second portion, a first portion being suspended over the silicon substrate and configured to move relative to the silicon substrate, and the second portion of the structure being coupled to the silicon substrate and fixed in place relative to the silicon substrate.

Three-axis monolithic microelectromechanical system (MEMS) accelerometers and methods for fabricating integrated capacitive and piezo accelerometers are provided. In an embodiment, a three-axis MEMS accelerometer includes a first sensing structure for sensing acceleration in a first direction. Further, the three-axis MEMS accelerometer includes a second sensing structure for sensing acceleration in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Also, the three-axis MEMS accelerometer includes a third sensing structure for sensing acceleration in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and perpendicular to the second direction. At least one sensing structure is a capacitive structure and at least one sensing structure is a piezo structure.

The present invention discloses a three-axis accelerometer. The three-axis accelerometer comprises: a substrate; at least one anchor block fixedly disposed on the substrate; a first X-axis electrode, a second X-axis electrode, a first Y-axis electrode, a second Y-axis electrode, a first Z-axis electrode and a second Z-axis electrode all fixedly disposed on the substrate; a framework suspended above the substrate and comprising a first beam column, a second beam column disposed opposite to the first beam column and at least one connecting beam connecting the first beam column and the second beam column; a proof mass suspended above the substrate; and at least one elastic connection component configured to elastically connect to the at least anchor block, the connecting beam, and the proof mass. The three-axis accelerometer can realize high-precision acceleration detection on three axes with only one proof mass, and in particular, can provide a fully differential detection signal for the Z axis, thereby greatly improving detection precision.

A MEMS device includes a layer stack having a plurality of MEMS layers arranged along a layer stack direction. The MEMS device includes a movable element formed in a first MEMS layer and arranged between a second MEMS layer and a third MEMS layer of the layer stack. A driving unit is further provided, comprising a first drive structure mechanically firmly connected to the movable element and a second drive structure mechanically firmly connected to the second MEMS layer. The driving unit is configured to generate on the movable member a drive force perpendicular to the layer stack direction, and the drive force is configured to deflect the movable member.

A micromechanical arm array is provided. The micromechanical arm array comprises: a plurality of micromechanical arms spaced from each other in a first horizontal direction and extending in a second horizontal direction, wherein each micromechanical arm comprises a protrusion at a top of each micromechanical arm and protruding upwardly in a vertical direction; a plurality of protection films, each protection film encapsulating one of the plurality of micromechanical arms; and a metal connection structure extending in the first horizontal direction. The metal connection structure comprises: a plurality of joint portions, each joint portion corresponding to and surrounding the protrusion of one of the plurality of micromechanical arms; and a plurality of connection portions extending in the first horizontal direction and connecting two neighboring joint portions.

Silicon photonics provides an attractive platform for optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs) exploiting hybrid or monolithic integration with or without concurrent integration of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and/or CMOS electronic. Such OEICs offering optical component solutions across multiple applications from optical sensors through to optical networks operating upon one or more wavelengths. Accordingly, various silicon photonic building blocks are required in order to provide a toolkit for a circuit designer to exploit OEICs where these building blocks must address specific aspects of OEICs such as polarisation dependency of the optical waveguides. Accordingly, the inventors have established designs for: polarisation rotators with MEMS based tuning to allow the dual polarisations from a polarisation splitter to be managed by an OEIC operating upon a single polarisation; analog or digital phase shifts with MEMS actuation for switches, attenuators etc.; and passband filters with MEMS tuning.

A MEMS actuator comprising a frame structure and at least one actuator arm. The actuator arm is connected at a first end to the frame structure and at a second end to an actuator body. The MEMS actuator is characterized in that the at least one actuator arm has a meander structure comprising two or more actuator sections. The two or more actuator sections are oriented substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the actuator arm. Furthermore, the two or more actuator sections comprise at least one layer of an actuator material, wherein a movement of the actuator body can be effected by actuating the two or more actuator sections. Further disclosed is a method for producing the MEMS actuator.