The present disclosure relates to an integrated semiconductor device, comprising a semiconductor substrate; a cavity formed into the semiconductor substrate; a sensor portion of the semiconductor substrate deflectably suspended in the cavity at one side of the cavity via a suspension portion of the semiconductor substrate interconnecting the semiconductor substrate and the sensor portion thereof, wherein an extension of the suspension portion along the side of the cavity is smaller than an extension of said side of the cavity.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) structures, methods of manufacture and design structures are disclosed. The method includes forming a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) beam structure by venting both tungsten material and silicon material above and below the MEMS beam to form an upper cavity above the MEMS beam and a lower cavity structure below the MEMS beam.

The present invention relates to a cantilever or membrane comprising a body and an elongated beam attached to the body. The elongated beam includes a first layer comprising a first material, a second layer comprising a second material having an elastic modulus different to that of the first material, a third layer comprising a third material having an elastic modulus different to that of the first material, where the first layer is sandwiched between the second layer and the third layer.

A method of manufacturing a plurality of through-holes in a layer of first material, for example for the manufacturing of a probe comprising a tip containing a channel. To manufacture the through-holes in a batch process, a layer of first material is deposited on a wafer comprising a plurality of pits a second layer is provided on the layer of first material, and the second layer is provided with a plurality of holes at central locations of the pits; using the second layer as a shadow mask when depositing a third layer at an angle, covering a part of the first material with said third material at the central locations, and etching the exposed parts of the first layer using the third layer as a protective layer.

An MEMS double-layer suspension microstructure manufacturing method, comprising: providing a substrate (100); forming a first dielectric layer (200) on the substrate (100); patterning the first dielectric layer (200) to prepare a first film body (210) and a cantilever beam (220) connected to the first film body (210); forming a sacrificial layer (300) on the first dielectric layer (200); patterning the sacrificial layer (300) located on the first film body (210) to make a recess portioned portion (310) for forming a support structure (420), with the first film body (210) being exposed at the bottom of the recess portioned portion (310); forming a second dielectric layer (400) on the sacrificial layer (300); patterning the second dielectric layer (400) to make the second film body (410) and the support structure (420), with the support structure (420) being connected to the first film body (210) and the second film body (410); and removing part of the substrate under the first film body (210) and removing the sacrificial layer (300) to obtain the MEMS double-layer suspension microstructure. In addition, an MEMS infrared detector is also disclosed.

A piezoelectric MEMS microphone comprising a multi-layer sensor that includes at least one piezoelectric layer between two electrode layers, with the sensor being dimensioned such that it provides a near maximized ratio of output energy to sensor area, as determined by an optimization parameter that accounts for input pressure, bandwidth, and characteristics of the piezoelectric and electrode materials. The sensor can be formed from single or stacked cantilevered beams separated from each other by a small gap, or can be a stress-relieved diaphragm that is formed by deposition onto a silicon substrate, with the diaphragm then being stress relieved by substantial detachment of the diaphragm from the substrate, and then followed by reattachment of the now stress relieved diaphragm.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) structures, methods of manufacture and design structures are disclosed. The method includes forming a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) beam structure by venting both tungsten material and silicon material above and below the MEMS beam to form an upper cavity above the MEMS beam and a lower cavity structure below the MEMS beam.

An approach includes a method of fabricating a switch. The approach includes forming a first fixed electrode and a second fixed electrode, forming a first cantilevered electrode aligned vertically over the first fixed electrode, forming a second cantilevered electrode aligned vertically over the second fixed electrode, and which has an end that overlaps and is operable to directly contact an end of the first cantilevered electrode upon an application of a voltage to at least one of the first fixed electrode and the second fixed electrode, and forming a hermetically sealed volume encapsulating the first fixed electrode, the second fixed electrode, the first cantilevered electrode, and the second cantilevered electrode.

An approach includes a method of fabricating a switch. The approach includes forming a first fixed electrode and a second fixed electrode, forming a first cantilevered electrode aligned vertically over the first fixed electrode, forming a second cantilevered electrode aligned vertically over the first fixed electrode and which has an end that overlaps the first cantilevered electrode, forming a third cantilevered electrode aligned vertically over the second fixed electrode and operable to directly contact the first cantilevered electrode upon an application of a voltage to the second fixed electrode, and forming a hermetically sealed volume encapsulating the first fixed electrode, the second fixed electrode, the first cantilevered electrode, and the second cantilevered electrode.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) structures, methods of manufacture and design structures are disclosed. The method includes forming a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) beam structure by venting both tungsten material and silicon material above and below the MEMS beam to form an upper cavity above the MEMS beam and a lower cavity structure below the MEMS beam.