Integrated piezoelectric micromechanical ultrasonic transducer pixel and array

US10497748B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• QUALCOMM Incorporated · US

Inventors

• Hrishikesh Vijaykumar Panchawagh · Rochester, US
• Suryaprakash Ganti · Los Altos, US
• Kostadin Dimitrov Djordjev · Los Gatos, US
• David William Burns · Minneapolis, US
• Timothy Dickinson · Crystal Lake, US
• Donald William Kidwell, Jr. · Los Gatos, US
• Ravindra V. Shenoy · San Jose, US
• Jon Bradley Lasiter · Stockton, US
• Hao-Yen Tang · Berkeley, US
• Yipeng Lu · Davis, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 12, 2016
• Grant date: Dec 3, 2019
• Expiry date: Jan 26, 2037

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10N30/071
• WIPO field: Chemical engineering
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

An ultrasonic sensor pixel includes a substrate, a piezoelectric micromechanical ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) and a sensor pixel circuit. The PMUT includes a piezoelectric layer stack including a piezoelectric layer disposed over a cavity, the cavity being disposed between the piezoelectric layer stack and the substrate, a reference electrode disposed between the piezoelectric layer and the cavity, and one or both of a receive electrode and a transmit electrode disposed on or proximate to a first surface of the piezoelectric layer, the first surface being opposite from the cavity. The sensor pixel circuit is electrically coupled with one or more of the reference electrode, the receive electrode and the transmit electrode and the PMUT and the sensor pixel circuit are integrated with the sensor pixel circuit on the substrate.