{
  "patent_number": "US 8487387",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How to Combine Pressure and Motion Sensors on One Tiny Chip",
  "original_title": "MEMS sensor device with multi-stimulus sensing",
  "summary": "This patent describes a method for building a single microchip that contains both a pressure sensor and a motion sensor, making devices smaller and more efficient.",
  "what_it_does": "This device integrates two different types of tiny sensors, a first sensor (like a pressure sensor) and a second sensor (like an inertial sensor), onto a single chip. It uses a first substrate structure with a cavity and a second substrate structure where the sensors are built. The first sensor sits over the cavity, while the second sensor is positioned next to it, laterally spaced apart (Claim 1). A cap then encloses both sensors, often creating separate, isolated chambers for each (Claim 8). A clever part of the manufacturing is that key parts of both sensors, such as the pressure sensor's reference element and the inertial sensor's movable element, can be made at the same time from the same wafer material (Claim 4). For example, a smartphone could use this to measure both atmospheric pressure and how it's moving or tilting.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover a device where the first and second sensors are not laterally spaced apart on the second substrate structure.",
    "Does not cover a device where the first sensor is not aligned with a cavity in the first substrate structure.",
    "Does not cover a device where the cap does not physically isolate the first sensor's chamber from the second sensor's chamber.",
    "Does not cover a device where the reference element of the pressure sensor and the movable element of the inertial sensor are not formed concurrently in the wafer substrate.",
    "Does not cover a device where the first sensor is not a pressure sensor or the second sensor is not an inertial sensor."
  ],
  "filed": "2012-06-18",
  "granted": "2013-07-16",
  "expires": "2032-06-18",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Freescale Semiconductor",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/freescale-semiconductor",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Mark E. Schlarmann",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/mark-e-schlarmann"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hemant D. Desai",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/hemant-d-desai"
    },
    {
      "name": "Woo Tae Park",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/woo-tae-park"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yizhen Lin",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/yizhen-lin"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 16,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "semiconductors",
    "telecommunications",
    "automotive"
  ],
  "abstract": "A device ( 20, 90 ) includes sensors ( 28, 30 ) that sense different physical stimuli. A pressure sensor ( 28 ) includes a reference element ( 44 ) and a sense element ( 52 ), and an inertial sensor ( 30 ) includes a movable element ( 54 ). Fabrication ( 110 ) entails forming ( 112 ) a first substrate structure ( 22, 92 ) having a cavity ( 36, 100 ), forming a second substrate structure ( 24 ) to include the sensors ( 28, 30 ), and coupling ( 128 ) the substrate structures so that the first sensor ( 28 ) is aligned with the cavity ( 36, 100 ) and the second sensor ( 30 ) is laterally spaced apart from the first sensor ( 28 ). Forming the second structure ( 24 ) includes forming ( 118 ) the sense element ( 52 ) from a material layer ( 124 ) of the second structure ( 24 ) and following coupling ( 128 ) of the substrate structures, concurrently forming ( 132 ) the reference element ( 44 ) and the movable element ( 54 ) in a wafer substrate ( 122 ) of the second structure ( 24 ).",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8487387/mems-sensor-device-with-multi-stimulus-sensing",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8487387/mems-sensor-device-with-multi-stimulus-sensing/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US8487387",
  "relatedPatents": [
    {
      "patentNumber": "8387464",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "Combining Sealed and Exposed Sensors on One Microchip",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8387464/laterally-integrated-mems-sensor-device-with-multi-stimulus-sensing"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "10578505",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "How to Build a Tiny Pressure Sensor Inside a Silicon Chip",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10578505/process-for-manufacturing-a-mems-pressure-sensor-and-corresponding-mems-pressure"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "20110120221",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "How a Tiny Sensor Uses an Extra Weight to Detect Motion",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/20110120221/mems-sensor-method-of-manufacturing-thereof-and-electronic-apparatus"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "8146425",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "How a MEMS Sensor Uses a Reference to Improve Z-Axis Accuracy",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8146425/mems-sensor-with-movable-z-axis-sensing-element"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "8939029",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "Improving MEMS Sensor Accuracy with a Co-located Reference Structure",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8939029/mems-sensor-with-movable-z-axis-sensing-element-8939029"
    }
  ]
}