MEMS microphone technology

This presentation reports on the design and fabrication of a miniature MEMS-base condenser microphone for use in applications requiring near-instrumentation performance. The microphones are realised using a CMOS compatible surface micro-machining fabrication process which utilises well characterised combinations of thin-film metals and silicon nitride layers. Results from a fully integrated microphone with on-chip readout and conditioning electronics will be presented. The interactions between the acoustic, mechanical and electrical domains and their influence on performance will also be discussed.