Abstract
Microphones fabricated using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology are one of the fastest growing applications of MEMS. While most commercial MEMS microphones are sensed capacitively, piezoelectric MEMS microphones require less accompanying electronics and offer increased linearity. Currently, piezoelectric MEMS microphones suffer from high noise levels, limiting their applicability. This paper presents an alternative sensor geometry consisting of a cantilever beam electrostatically clamped to the center of a diaphragm that both favorably concentrates stress from the applied acoustic load and eliminates the deleterious effects of residual stress in the piezoelectric material. A complete analysis of the sensitivity and noise characteristics of the electromechanical design (including the amplifying electronics) is performed and compared to a design employing a piezoelectric layer on a diaphragm. The analysis has shown that the proposed geometry can be used to build microphones sensed via aluminum nitride with noise levels around 48 dBA while similar materials and sizes result in noise levels around 57 dBA using the standard geometry.
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