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Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with through-substrate via (TSV) substrate plug

A technology of capacitive micromachines and ultrasonic transducers, applied in semiconductor electrostatic transducers, electrostatic motors, microelectronic microstructure devices, etc., can solve problems such as increasing chip size, increasing CMUT array chip size, and reducing performance

Active Publication Date: 2015-11-18
TEXAS INSTR INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This constraint not only increases the CMUT array die size due to the need for interconnect routing lines, but also degrades performance and complicates the packaging process
Increased chip size and complex packaging process both increase the cost of packaging CMUT chips

Method used

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  • Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with through-substrate via (TSV) substrate plug
  • Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with through-substrate via (TSV) substrate plug
  • Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with through-substrate via (TSV) substrate plug

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Embodiment Construction

[0011] Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) Sensor Cell The entity is a CMUT sensor cell. Multiple CMUT sensor cells can be connected in parallel (eg, using the electrically common movable membrane 120b) to form a CMUT element. A CMUT element can have any number (1 or more) of CMUT cells. In general, the more CMUT cells in an element, the greater the ultrasonic output pressure that the element can generate in response to a given stimulus. A CMUT array (device / chip) can have any number of CMUT elements. One of the electrodes of the individual CMUT elements (eg, the top electrode) can be electrically isolated from each other to allow each CMUT element to be independently connected to be individually addressable. As described herein, the use of an electrically common movable membrane 120b for each CMUT cell in a CMUT element allows all cells in each element to be addressed by a single TSV.

[0012] Figure 1A An example CMUT arrangement 100 is shown according ...

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Abstract

A Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) device includes at least one CMUT cell including a first substrate of a single crystal material having a top side including a patterned dielectric layer thereon including a thick and a thin dielectric region, and a through-substrate via (TSV) extending a full thickness of the first substrate. The TSV is formed of the single crystal material, is electrically isolated by isolation regions in the single crystal material, and is positioned under a top side contact area of the first substrate. A membrane layer is bonded to the thick dielectric region and over the thin dielectric region to provide a movable membrane over a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) cavity. A metal layer is over the top side substrate contact area and over the movable membrane including coupling of the top side substrate contact area to the movable membrane.

Description

technical field [0001] The disclosed embodiments relate to capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) devices and methods of manufacturing the same. Background technique [0002] CMUT devices are becoming increasingly popular in medical applications. For example, CMUT devices have been used to improve medical ultrasound imaging probes. CMUT devices are also used to provide high intensity focused ultrasound used in medical therapy. Furthermore, CMUT devices can be used to generate aerial ultrasound for a variety of applications including gesture sensing and airflow monitoring. Conventional CMUT devices are typically grown directly on a silicon substrate (ie, on a silicon wafer). For example, conventional CMUT devices are often fabricated using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques in which the release layer is etched away, leaving a freestanding (flexible) membrane. The top of the membrane is usually metallized to reduce the resistance of...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(China)
IPC IPC(8): B06B1/02
CPCH04R19/005B06B1/0292B06B2201/76H02N1/006H05K2201/09863H05K2201/09845B81B7/007B81B2203/0127B81B2207/096B81C1/00301B81C2201/013B81C2203/036
Inventor P·B·约翰逊I·O·伍感特
Owner TEXAS INSTR INC