CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 0001 This application is a continuation-in-part of divisional application Ser. No. 09/482,119, Jan. 13, 2000, of application Ser. No. 09/037,733 of Mar. 10, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,967, each incorporated by reference in its entirety. All of the applications are assigned to the same assignee as the present application.

GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

0002 This invention was made with Government support under contract N00024-97-C-4157 from the Naval Sea Systems Command. The Government has certain rights to this invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0003 The present invention relates to capacitive transducers that directly and differentially sense force, pressure, strain, vibration, acceleration, gravity, sound, mechanical displacement, electric charge, radiation, and fluid flow over a wide dynamic range. More specifically, this invention relates to a method to fabricate capacitive transducers with one or more of variable-area capacitor elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0004 Many potential high-volume applications exist for variable-area capacitors of U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,967 that have a high quiescent capacitance and a large change of capacitive compared to existent variable-gap capacitors. Accordingly, a method was developed to fabricate variable-area capacitors with flexible sensing diaphragms from materials having a wide range of modulus of elasticity. 0005 Variable-area capacitive transducers have been constructed by bonding silicon diaphragms and membranes to glass substrates with metal film counter-electrodes. Capacitive transducers also have been constructed by bonding highly flexible metallized polymer films to polymer substrates. Both crystalline and polymer membranes with deposited metal films have been bonded to substrates with multiple electrodes to form capacitive transducers with multiple variable-area capacitor elements. All the forgoing embodiments of a variable-area capacitor transducer have been constructed by the method of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0006 One object of the present invention is to provide a common method to easily manufacture variable-area capacitive transducers of simple construction to transduce physical effects both directly and differentially. 0007 A further object of the present invention is to provide a method to fabricate variable-area capacitors with sensing diaphragms of highly elastic materials such as single crystal silicon. 0008 Another object of the present invention is to provide a method to fabricate variable-area capacitors from low-cost, thermoplastic materials such a polycarbonate. 0009 Still another object of the present invention is to fabricate capacitive transducers with a plurality of variable-area capacitor elements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0010 FIG. 1 is a sectional drawing of a variable-area capacitor; 0011 FIG. 2 is a top view of a substrate with a contoured region comprising dish-shaped depressions; 0012 FIG. 3A is a sectional view of the substrate of FIG. 2; 0013 FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the substrate of FIG. 2 after metal deposition; 0014 FIG. 3C is a sectional view of the substrate of FIG. 3B after patterning and etching a metal layer; 0015 FIG. 3D is a sectional view of a capacitive transducer after bonding a flexible diaphragm; 0016 FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of a substrate with a contoured region comprising ridges and valleys; 0017 FIG. 5 is a top view of a substrate with a manifold connecting multiple capacitor elements; 0018 FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the substrate of FIG. 5. 0019 FIG. 7 is a view of the substrate of FIG. 3B with a dielectric layer deposited over a metal layer; 0020 FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a differential capacitive transducer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0021 In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, dimensions, and materials are set forth to provide a through understanding of this invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. Well known techniques for processing semiconductor materials, fabricating micromachined devices, and forming micro-optics are referred to without elaboration so not to obscure the present invention with unnecessary detail. 0022 All the drawings are schematic in nature and thus features in the drawings are not shown to relative scale. For drawing clarity, where multiple elements of identical structure are illustrated only the features of a representative element are identified by a reference numeral. 0023 FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a variable-area capacitive transducer, generally identified by reference numeral 10 constructed using the method of the present invention. Transducer 10 includes a substrate 12 of dielectric material with a first surface 14 opposing a second surface 16. A contoured region 18 is formed over and in a portion of first surface 14 of substrate 12. Contoured region 18 has maximum depth at a midpoint 20 and a symmetrical section around midpoint 20. A cavity 22 is formed between contoured region 18 and surface 16 of substrate 12. A rigid electrode 24 with an electrical connection 26 is formed by depositing a first metal layer on surface 14 in a region substantially limited to the areal extent of contoured region 18 and on a wall of cavity 22. A second metal layer 28 is deposited on at least a portion of surface 16 and on said wall of cavity 22, metal layer 28 overlapping a portion of electrical connection 26 to form electrical continuity between rigid electrode 24 and metal layer 28. A surface portion of metal 28 provides a region 36 for attaching an external electrode. A diaphragm 30 is provided with a dielectric layer 32 on which is deposited an electrically conductive layer 34. Conducting layer 34 comprises a cooperating flexible electrode of transducer 10. A portion of diaphragm 30 is bonded to surface 14 in a region surrounding contoured region 18 and rigid electrode 24. 0024 Dielectric layer 32 maintains a fixed capacitor spacing between a portion of mutually opposed surfaces of rigid and flexible capacitor electrode 24 and 34 respectively. The shape of contoured region 18 controls the rate of change in the capacitance area with fixed spacing as diaphragm 30 deflects in response to a physical effect. When diaphragm 30 is a highly flexible membrane of material such as aluminized polycarbonate and is subjected to uniform pressure, its generatrix is substantially determined by tensile stresses. For this case, the shape of contoured region 18 can be selected to provide a substantially linear increase in the capacitive of transducer 10 with pressure over a wide dynamic range. When diaphragm 30 is constructed from a thicker, more rigid material such as silicon, its generatrix is substantially determined by bending stresses and a another shape must be selected for contoured region 18 to provide a linear or another type of capacitive response with pressure. Cavity 22 provides a passage for pressure equalization or for evacuation of the internal volume of transducer 10. 0025 FIG. 2 is a top view and FIG. 3A is a sectional view of a substrate 12 with contoured region 18 comprising an array of dish-shaped depressions for a capacitive transducer having multiple variable-area capacitor elements. For diaphragms of equal stiffness, a transducer with multiple capacitor elements has a dynamic response that extends to higher frequencies than the response of a transducer of comparable size with a single capacitor element. A transducer with multiple capacitor elements can be used for applications such as acoustic wavefront analysis and imaging. 0026 FIG. 3B is a sectional view of substrate 12 of FIG. 2 after deposition of rigid electrodes 24, electrical connections 26, and metal layer 28. As an example, rigid electrode 24 can be a vacuum deposited coating of aluminum for a thermoplastic substrate. Other metals are required for substrates of borosilicate or aluminosilicate glass that are subjected to higher bonding temperatures. Rigid electrode 24 and metal layer 28 deposited on glass substrates can comprise a coating of gold deposited over a coating of platinum deposited over a coating of titanium using a multi-target, vacuum sputtering system. The titanium serves as an adhesion layer and the platinum as an alloying barrier. The gold coating provides a surface on which electrical terminals can be reliably bonded. 0027 FIG. 3C is a sectional view of substrate 18 of FIG. 3B after the steps of lithographic patterning and etching of metal layer 28 to provide a region 36 around cavity 22 for the attachment of an external electrode to individual capacitance elements. When these steps are not performed, the multiple capacitor elements remain electrically connected in parallel as is desirable for many sensing applications. 0028 FIG. 3D is a sectional view of a variable-area capacitor with multiple capacitor elements generally shown by reference numeral 40. Transducer 40 is formed by bonding diaphragm 30 to substrate 12 with rigid electrode 24 and metal layer 28 of FIG. 3B. 0029 Diaphragm 30 of transducer 10 of FIG. 1 and transducer 40 of FIG. 3D can comprise a metallized thermoplastic film of material such as polycarbonate, polyester, polyamide, Polysulfone, PEEK, and Pyralin. Alternately diaphragm 30 can comprise metal layer 32 vacuum sputter deposited on a surface of an intermediate support layer of doped silicon with dielectric layer 32 thermally grown or chemically vapor deposited on an opposing surface of the silicon support layer. The material of dielectric layer 32 can be selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, glass, PMMA, photoresist, and a thermoplastic. Thick diaphragms 30 with intermediate layers of silicon are self supporting and can be bonded directly to substrate 12. Diaphragms that comprise a thin membrane can be provided with a support rim and a surface of said rim contiguous with said diaphragm bonded to substrate 12. Metallized polycarbonate membranes have been directly thermally bonded to polycarbonate substrates after first attaching the membranes to temporary handling rings. Large, flat, uniformly tensioned membranes can be adhered to handling rings by the methods used to manufacture pellicles. Alternately, polymer and crystalline membranes with controlled tension can be provided and handled by the method of Windischmann et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,616. Silicon diaphragms with predetermined stress can be provided by the method of Mauger et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,749. 0030 Metallized thermoplastic membranes on handling rings can be thermally bonded to thermoplastic substrates. A membrane is placed across a substrate and a heated metal stamp with a ribbed contour is used to bond the membrane by pressed it against the metallized side of the membrane until the temperature of the thermoplastic film is raised just above its glass transition temperature. 0031 FIG. 4. illustrates a portion of a substrate 12 with contoured region 18 that includes a series of connected ridges 41 and valleys 43. Contoured region 18 is formed over and in a portion of surface 14 of said substrate 12. Cavities 22 can be formed between the valleys 43 of surface contour 18 to surface 16. Alternately, or in addition to cavities 22, a passage 38 can be formed to connect valleys 43 to an edgewall 50 of substrate 12 for pressure equalization, evacuation, and to provide an electrical connection formed after the deposition of rigid electrodes 24 over contoured region 18. 0032 One advantage of contoured region 18 of FIG. 4 is that it supports rectangular areas of a sensing diaphragm. Under a given load, a rectangular diaphragm element with a width, a, deflects more than a circular element with a diameter, a, or a square element with sides of width, a. 0033 The material of substrate 12 of FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 can be selected from the group consisting of glass, fused silica, quartz, sapphire, silicon, PMMA, an epoxy, a photoresist, a moldable plastic, a thermoplastic, and a thermoset plastic. 0034 FIG. 5 is a top view, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view, of a support member 42 of conducting material in which a manifold passage 44 is formed in surface 46. As an example, this illustration depicts the layout and orientation of manifold passage 44 selected to connect cavities 22 of capacitive transducer 40 of FIG. 3D. Surface 46 of support member 42 can be bonded to surface 16 of transducer 40 to provide a single port 48 at edgewall 50 for pressure equalization, fluid filling, or for evacuating the internal volume of transducer 40. Support member 50 also provides an electrical connection to rigid electrode 24 via metal layer 28 and electrical connection 26. 0035 For transducer 10 of FIG. 1 and transducer 40 of FIG. 3D, dielectric layer 32 is provided on diaphragm 30. Variable-area capacitors also can be constructed by providing a dielectric layer on a rigid electrode. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of substrate 12 of FIG. 3B with a dielectric layer 54 deposited on and over the metal layer comprising rigid electrode 24. Insulating layer 54 controls the area of fixed capacitive spacing between the capacitor electrodes when the bonded side of diaphragm 30 is electrically conducting. 0036 A capacitive transducer 10 of FIG. 1 and transducer 40 of FIG. 3D can be constructed by providing substrate 12 of a conducting material. This construction eliminates the steps of depositing metal layers to form rigid electrode 24 and metal film 28. 0037 FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a differential pressure transducer generally shown by reference numeral 60. Transducer 60 is constructed by affixing surfaces 16 and 16 of two variable-area capacitive transducers 10 and 10 of FIG. 1 to a top surface 62 and a bottom surface 64 of an electrically conducting support body 66 with a interconnecting cavity 68 connected to a internal passage 70 used for pressure equalization or for fluid filling. The construction of capacitive transducer 60 is similar that of differential pressure transducer of Valentin et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,826. The significant difference is the Valentin invention includes two, variable-gap capacitors that do not have the advantages of the variable-area capacitors of U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,967.

Forming the Contoured Region for a Rigid Electrode 0038 The method selected to form contoured region 18 (with or without connecting cavity 22) of transducer 10 of FIG. 1; transducer 40 of FIG. 3D; and substrate 12 of FIG. 4 is determined in part by: a) the material of substrate 12 or a dielectric layer on substrate 12, b) the overall size and shape of contoured region 18; c) the linearity of the capacitance response of the transducer; and d) the desired quiescent capacitance, maximum full-scale capacitance, and dynamic response of the transducer. 0039 Capacitive transducer 10 of FIG. 1 has been fabricated with 0.002 to 0.5 mm thick silicon diaphragms bonded to borosilicate glass substrates with 12-mm diameter rigid capacitor electrodes. Contoured regions 18 were ductile-mode ground with a template tracing grinding machine using a 100:1 reduction lever arm. The tracing template was fabricated by computer-controlled, electrical discharge machining (EDM). Ductile-mode grinding was achieved by dressing individual SiC abrasive grains bonded in a narrow wheel using a custom diamond tool. The aforementioned grinding machine was also operated as a 100:1 template tracing lathe for single-point diamond machining contoured regions for rigid electrodes in polycarbonate substrates. Smaller contoured regions with features including ridges and valleys have been formed in single crystal silicon substrates by the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,967. 0040 Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, and 4, contoured regions 18 with lateral dimensions generally within the 0.01 to 1.0 mm size range can be formed by the following methods: 0041 1) Etching, polishing, or ablating material from planar surface 14 or from a material layer formed on planar surface 14; 0042 2) Depositing or spinning a partially conformal material layer over wells, cavities, or trenches formed in planar surface 14 or in a material layer formed on planar surface 14; 0043 3) Partially planarizing wells, cavities, or trenches formed in planar surface 14 or in a material layer formed on planar surface 14; 0044 4) Selectively depositing material on a region of planar surface 14; 0045 5) Thermally forming contoured region 18 in substrate 12 of a thermoplastic material. 0046 Dish-shaped depressions and valleys can be formed in a material surface by chemical or photon assisted chemical etching; plasma or RIE plasma etching; ion milling; and polishing or chemical-mechanical polishing. Etching can be performed in one or more steps using a temporary contact masking layer, while ion milling can be performed with the aid of a contact masking layer or directly by a focused ion beam. Contoured regions also can be formed by ablating material from a substrate by a focused beam selected from a group consisting of plasma, ions, electrons, and UV photons. 0047 Polishing also can be used to form dish-shape depressions and valleys. First wells, cavities, or trenches are etched in a material layer and then the features polished to form the desired surface contour. The incurvature at the edge of patterned features can be controlled in part by polishing pressure, slurry type, abrasive material type and particle size, and by the motion, material, and the elastic properties of the polishing lap. 0048 When a contoured region 18 is formed by etching, polishing, or milling of a thin cover layer on a substrate, the incurvation at the edges of stepped features can may be controlled in part by selecting materials for the cover layer and substrate with different material removal rates. 0049 Dish-shaped depressions and valleys can be formed by applying a partially conformal layer, such as spin-on-glass (SOG) or LPCVD deposited borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), over wells, cavities, or trenches formed in a material surface. This step also can be combined with etching or polishing steps before or after the application of the partially conformal layer. 0050 Contoured regions in a material surface can be formed by other methods used to planarize stepped features in the material layers of integrated circuits and isolation trenches in substrates during the manufacture of semiconductor devices. One method includes forming wells, cavities, or trenches in a material layer applied to substrate 12, such as SOG or BPSG. The desired shape of the contoured region is then formed by the incurvature at the edges of stepped features by thermal meltback by oven or laser heating. 0051 The contoured regions 18 of substrates 12 of a polymer material can be formed by the methods of compression molding, injection molding, casting, thermal forming, embossing, coining, replication, imprint lithography, and stero-photolithograpy methods. Contoured regions in metal substrates can be formed by embossing, coining, and EDM. 0052 Connecting cavity 22 can be formed before, during, or after forming contoured region 18. When cavity 22 is formed before or after forming contoured region 18, it can be formed by conventional drilling, microdrilling, UV laser ablation, ion milling, as well as chemical, plasma, and RIE plasma etching through a temporary contact mask. The method selected is determined in part by the material and material thickness of substrate 12 and by the dimensions of cavity 22. 0053 Referring to FIG. 7, rigid electrode 24 can be formed by depositing an electrically conducting layer over a region of surface 24 of substrate 12 in which stepped features are formed and partially planarized. Alternately, rigid electrode 24 may be formed by depositing an electrically conducting layer over a material layer deposited on surface 14 of substrate 12 in which stepped features are formed and partially planarized.

Fabrication of Accelerometers 0054 Accelerometers have been fabricated by the method of the present invention by the additional step of suspending a central proof-mass to diaphragm 30 of capacitive transducer 10 of FIG. 1. Other accelerometers and seismometers have been fabricated by forming a integral central hub on two-micrometer thick silicon diaphragms during the steps of micromachining the diaphragm. 0055 While the preferred forms and embodiments of the instant invention have been illustrated and described, the preferred embodiments described above are not meant to limit the scope of the appended claims.