703 results about "Micromachinery" patented technology

A curved sensor device, such as an ultrasonic transducer array, is fabricated from a flat micromachined sensor (such as cMUT or pMUT) array constructed using micromachined electromechanical systems (MEMS) techniques. The device comprises: a support structure comprising a spine having a profile that is generally curved and a multiplicity of teeth extending from one side of the curved spine; and a multiplicity of sensors built on the support structure. The spine can be bent forward or backward and attached to a curved front face of a support member, thereby causing the sensors to adopt a curved array.

The present invention relates to a single crystal micromechanical resonator. In particular, the resonator includes a lithium niobate or lithium tantalate suspended plate. Also provided are improved microfabrication methods of making resonators, which does not rely on complicated wafer bonding, layer fracturing, and mechanical polishing steps. Rather, the methods allow the resonator and its components to be formed from a single crystal.

A three-degrees of freedom (DOF) MEMS inertial micromachined gyroscope with nonresonant actuation with a drive direction, sense direction and a direction perpendicular to the drive and sense directions comprises a planar substrate, a 2-DOF sense-mode oscillator coupled to the substrate operated at a flattened wide-bandwidth frequency region, and a 1-DOF drive mode oscillator coupled operated at resonance in the flattened wide-bandwidth frequency region to achieve large drive-mode amplitudes.

This invention provides a very sensitive optical attenuator, which can be used to couple and attenuate optical signals between optical fibers with a wide range of attenuation level. Such an optical attenuator includes a flexible conductive membrane to be moved by an external force, such as electrostatic force, to achieve deformation of the conductive membrane. The conductive membrane can be formed, for example, by a vacuum deposited silicon nitride film. A thin metallic, conductive layer is then deposited on the flexible membrane to form a reflective mirror to receive and reflect incident optical signals. The semiconductor structure includes one or more spacing posts, with which the first structural member is to be joined and bonded. Electrodes are placed on the semiconductor structure in close proximity to the flexible membrane. At various areas of the semiconductor structure, additional spacing posts are added to cause deformation of the conductive membrane when a voltage is applied between the membrane and the electrodes on the semiconductor structure.

The invention discloses a micromechanical silicon-based clamped beam-based phase detector and a detection method. The phase detector comprises a silicon substrate (1), a source (2), a drain (3), a first clamped beam-anchoring area (61), a second clamped beam-anchoring area (62), a grid (5) and a clamped beam (7), wherein the source (2) and the drain (3) are grown on the surface of the silicon substrate (1) and used for outputting saturation current, the source (2) is arranged opposite from the drain (3), and the clamped beam (7) is arranged upon the grid (5) and is opposite to the grid (5). The detection method includes the following steps: when a direct-current offset is loaded on a first pull-down electrode (81) and a second pull-down electrode (82) and the clamped beam (7) is pulled down and is in contact with the grid (5), two microwave signals which have the same frequency and certain phase difference are simultaneously loaded on the grid (5); the saturation current of the drain (3) is processed, so that high-frequency signals are filtered, and therefore the current signal of phase difference information is obtained. The structure of the phase detector is simple, and measurement is easy.

The invention relates to a digital signal processing method and a device for a micro-mechanical gyroscope. The device mainly comprises a digital signal processor, a direct digital frequency synthesizer, a digital phase-locked loop and an analog-to-digital converter. The frequency synthesizer is used for outputting a sine drive signal with controllable frequency and amplitude. A drive feedback signal and an angular velocity readout signal are synchronously converted by the analog-to-digital converter; the converted frequency is an integral multiple of the frequency of the drive signal, and thesampling time length is an integral multiple of the period of the drive signal. With the adoption of the digital signal processor, the sampling data is multiplied by the fixed sine and cosine coefficients, and the input angular velocity and the orthotropic error as well as the phase and the amplitude of the drive feedback signal are resolved in an accumulative manner, and the phase parameters areutilized for adjusting the frequency of the drive signal, so that the frequency of the drive signal follows up the resonance frequency of the gyroscope. The amplitude parameters are utilized for adjusting the amplitude of the drive signal, so that the vibration amplitude is constant. The device realizes the drive of the micro-mechanical gyroscope and the digitization of the angular velocity demodulation, has simple structure and high computation precision, and is easy to produce and transplant in batch.

Fabrication methods for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTS) with independent and precise gap and post thickness control are provided. The fabrication methods are based on local oxidation or local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) to grow oxide posts. The process steps enable low surface roughness to be maintained to allow for direct wafer bonding of the membrane. In addition, methods for fabricating a step in a substrate are provided with reduced or minimal over-etch time by utilizing the nonlinearity of oxide growth. The fabrication methods of the present invention produce CMUTs with unmatched uniformity, low parasitic capacitance, and high breakdown voltage.

A micromechanical component having a substrate (10) made from a substrate material having a first doping type (p), a micromechanical functional structure provided in the substrate (10) and a cover layer to at least partially cover the micromechanical functional structure. The micromechanical functional structure has zones (15; 15a; 15b; 15c; 730; 740; 830) made from the substrate material having a second doping type (n), the zones being at least partially surrounded by a cavity (50; 50e-f), and the cover layer has a porous layer (30) made from the substrate material.

A mode matching servo for an inertial sensor having a resonator and an accelerometer provides a test signal at a frequency higher than a predetermined inertial sensor response frequency and lower than an accelerometer resonance mode frequency so as to induce acceleration signals from the accelerometer substantially at the test signal frequency when the modes are not matched. A feedback signal is provided in response to such induced signals to substantially nullify the signals.

The present invention relates to magnetic particle separators using micromachined magnetic arrays and more particularly, to magnetic particle separators or manipulators using controlled magnetization on micromachined magnetic arrays for the separation of cells and other biological materials. The present invention also pertains to using such devices for the separation and analysis of biological materials for immunoassays, DNA sequencing, protein analysis, and biochemical detection applications. The present invention can also be viewed as a novel method for fabricating fully integrated permanent magnet components within any microelectromechanical system (“MEMS”) structures. The present invention also provides a magnetic particle separation and manipulation system for rapid separation and accurate manipulation of magnetic particles in two-dimensional electromagnetic arrays, which utilize high throughput biological analyses. A disposable cartridge can be produced in low cost using a low cost substrate such as plastic or other polymer, glass, or metal. Magnetic flux is generated by conventional or micromachined electromagnets a platform system consisting of magnetic flux sources, magnetic flux guidance, and a microprocessor control interface. By controlling direction of electric currents into inductors on the platform system, arbitrary magnetic poles can be generated on Permalloy structures of the cartridge to separate and manipulate magnetic particles. The magnetic particle separator and manipulator in the present invention can be easily combined with automated detection systems such as a fluorescent monitoring system.

A micromechanical pressure sensor device, particularly for measuring low absolute pressures and/or small differential pressures. The device includes a frame that is formed at least partially by a semiconductor material, a membrane retained by the frame, at least one measuring resistor that is disposed at a first location in or on the membrane and whose resistance value is a function of pressure-induced mechanical stresses in the membrane, and at least one compensating resistor that is disposed at a second location in or on the membrane and whose resistance value is a function of pressure-induced mechanical stresses in the membrane. The resistance value changes at the first location with a first linear component and a first quadratic component as a function of the pressure, and the resistance value changes at the second location approximately without a linear component and with a second quadratic component, which is proportional to the first quadratic component, as a function of the pressure.

An accelerometer or a seismometer using an in-plane suspension geometry having a suspension plate and at least one fixed capacitive plate. The suspension plate is formed from a single piece and includes an external frame, a pair of flexural elements, and an integrated proof mass between the flexures. The flexural elements allow the proof mass to move in the sensitive direction in the plane of suspension while restricting movement in all off-axis directions. Off-axis motion of the proof mass is minimized by the use of intermediate frames disbursed within and between the flexural elements. Intermediate frames can include motion stops to prevent further relative motion during overload conditions. The device can also include a dampening structure, such as a spring or gas structure that includes a trapezoidal piston and corresponding cylinder, to provide damping during non-powered states. The capacitive plate is made of insulating material. A new method of soldering the capacitive plate to the suspension plate is also disclosed.

The invention discloses a system and a method for tracking a weaving arc space weld based on an MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) sensor. The system comprises a manipulator, a welding power source, a wire delivery machine, an electric arc sensor, a built-in type MEMS sensor welding gun, a weaving arc space weld tracking signal processor, a welding gun tilting angle operator, a swinging direction operator, a welding gun attitude real-time adjuster, and a welding expert system. The system adopts a core principle that the space weld can be tracked by the weaving arc space weld tracking method based on the MEMS sensor, and has the advantage that the space attitude of the welding gun is collected by an arc sensor, a gyroscope and an accelerometer, and the tilting angle and swinging direction of the welding gun are automatically adjusted by weld angle differential identification, vertical displacement orientation and other methods, so that the real-time tracking of the space complicated weld is realized.