| US 7,458,272 B2 | ||
| Capacitative pressure sensor with ceramic membrane | ||
| Kia Silverbrook, Balmain (Australia); and Samuel George Mallinson, Balmain (Australia) | ||
| Assigned to Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd, Balmain, New South Wales (Australia) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 18, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/779,846. | ||
| Application 11/779846 is a continuation of application No. 11/601802, filed on Nov. 20, 2006, granted, now 7,258,020. | ||
| Application 11/601802 is a continuation of application No. 10/965903, filed on Oct. 18, 2004, granted, now 7,159,467. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0011088 A1, Jan. 17, 2008 | ||
| Int. Cl. G01L 7/10 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 73—729.2 [73/715; 73/718; 73/754; 361/283.1] | 20 Claims |
| 1. A capacitative pressure sensor for sensing a fluid pressure, the capacitative pressure sensor comprising:
a wafer substrate;
associated circuitry deposited in CMOS layers on the wafer substrate;
a conductive layer at least partially overlying the associated circuitry, the conductive layer forming a first electrode of
the capacitative sensor; and,
a conductive membrane at least partially overlying and spaced from the conductive layer, the conductive membrane forming a
second electrode of the capacitative sensor, the conductive membrane separating fluid at a reference pressure and fluid at
the pressure to be sensed such that the associated circuitry is configured to convert the deflection of the conductive membrane
into an output signal indicative of the fluid pressure; wherein,
the conductive membrane is at least partially formed from a ceramic material.
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