公开(公告)号：US20050013455A1

公开(公告)日：2005-01-20

申请号：US10781555

申请日：2004-02-18

申请人： Wayne Loeb ,  John Neumann ,  Kaigham Gabriel

发明人： Wayne Loeb ,  John Neumann ,  Kaigham Gabriel

IPC分类号： B81B3/00 ,  B81B7/02 ,  H04R1/00 ,  H04R3/00 ,  H04R17/00 ,  H04R19/00 ,  H04R23/00 ,  H04R25/00 ,  H02N1/00

CPC分类号： H04R19/005 ,  H04R17/00

摘要： An acoustic transducer comprising a substrate; and a diaphragm formed by depositing a micromachined membrane onto the substrate. The diaphragm is formed as a single silicon chip using a CMOS MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) semiconductor fabrication process. The curling of the diaphragm during fabrication is reduced by depositing the micromachined membrane for the diaphragm in a serpentine-spring configuration with alternating longer and shorter arms. As a microspeaker, the acoustic transducer of the present invention converts a digital audio input signal directly into a sound wave, resulting in a very high quality sound reproduction at a lower cost of production in comparison to conventional acoustic transducers. The micromachined diaphragm may also be used in microphone applications.

公开(公告)号：US20050061770A1

公开(公告)日：2005-03-24

申请号：US10945136

申请日：2004-09-20

申请人： John Neumann ,  Kaigham Gabriel

发明人： John Neumann ,  Kaigham Gabriel

IPC分类号： B81B3/00 ,  B81B7/02 ,  H04R1/00 ,  H04R3/00 ,  H04R17/00 ,  H04R19/00 ,  H04R23/00 ,  H01B13/00

CPC分类号： H04R19/005 ,  H04R17/00

摘要： An acoustic transducer comprising a substrate; and a diaphragm formed by depositing a micromachined membrane onto the substrate. The diaphragm is formed as a single silicon chip using a CMOS MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) semiconductor fabrication process. The curling of the diaphragm during fabrication is reduced by depositing the micromachined membrane for the diaphragm in a serpentine-spring configuration with alternating longer and shorter arms. As a microspeaker, the acoustic transducer of the present invention converts a digital audio input signal directly into a sound wave, resulting in a very high quality sound reproduction at a lower cost of production in comparison to conventional acoustic transducers. The micromachined diaphragm may also be used in microphone applications.

摘要翻译： 包括基底的声学换能器; 以及通过将微加工膜沉积到基底上而形成的隔膜。 使用CMOS MEMS（微机电系统）半导体制造工艺将隔膜形成为单个硅芯片。 在制造期间，通过将用于隔膜的微加工膜沉积成具有交替的较长和较短臂的蛇形弹簧构型来减小隔膜的卷曲。 作为微型扬声器，与传统的声换能器相比，本发明的声换能器将数字音频输入信号直接转换成声波，从而以较低的生产成本产生非常高质量的声音再现。 微加工膜片也可用于麦克风应用。

公开(公告)号：US07089069B2

公开(公告)日：2006-08-08

申请号：US10222242

申请日：2002-08-16

申请人： Kaigham Gabriel ,  John J. Neumann, Jr. ,  Brett M. Diamond

发明人： Kaigham Gabriel ,  John J. Neumann, Jr. ,  Brett M. Diamond

IPC分类号： G06F17/00 ,  H04R3/00

CPC分类号： H04R1/005

摘要： Each of a plurality of speaklets (MEMS membranes) produces a stream of clicks (discrete pulses of acoustic energy) that are summed to generate the desired soundwave. The speaklets are selected to be energized based on the value of a digital signal. The greater the significance of the bit of the digital signal, the more speaklets that are energized in response to that bit. Thus, a time-varying sound level is generated by time-varying the number of speaklets emitting clicks. Louder sound is generated by increasing the number of speaklets emitting clicks. The present invention represents a substantial advance over the prior art in that sound is generated directly from a digital signal without the need to convert the digital signal first to an analog signal for driving a diaphragm.

公开(公告)号：US20050000932A1

公开(公告)日：2005-01-06

申请号：US10902984

申请日：2004-07-30

申请人： Kaigham Gabriel ,  Xu Zhu

发明人： Kaigham Gabriel ,  Xu Zhu

IPC分类号： B81B3/00 ,  B81C1/00 ,  C23F1/00 ,  H01G4/00 ,  H01G5/00 ,  H01G7/00 ,  H01G9/00 ,  H01G13/00 ,  H01H59/00 ,  H01L23/48 ,  H01L23/52 ,  H04R19/00 ,  H04R19/02 ,  H04R19/04 ,  H04R31/00

CPC分类号： B81C1/00158 ,  B81B2201/018 ,  B81B2201/0257 ,  B81C2201/0109 ,  H01G5/16

摘要： The present invention is directed to a structure comprised of alternating layers of metal and sacrificial material built up using standard CMOS processing techniques, a process for building such a structure, a process for fabricating devices from such a structure, and the devices fabricated from such a structure. In one embodiment, a first metal layer is carried by a substrate. A first sacrificial layer is carried by the first metal layer. A second metal layer is carried by the sacrificial layer. The second metal layer has a portion forming a micro-machined metal mesh. When the portion of the first sacrificial layer in the area of the micro-machined metal mesh is removed, the micro-machined metal mesh is released and suspended above the first metal layer a height determined by the thickness of the first sacrificial layer. The structure may be varied by providing a base layer of sacrificial material between the surface of the substrate and the first metal layer. In that manner, a portion of the first metal layer may form a micro-machined mesh which is released when a portion of the base sacrificial layer in the area of the micro-machined mesh is removed. Additionally, a second layer of sacrificial material and a third metal layer may be provided. A micro-machined mesh may be formed in a portion of the third metal layer. The structure of the present invention may be used to construct variable capacitors, switches and, when certain of the meshes are sealed, microspeakers and microphones.