Patent ID: 9322840
Filing Date: 2016-04-26
CPC Classification: G01P,G01R

Claim Text:
1. A resistive element having a specific piezo-resistive coefficient, wherein the resistive element comprises: a resistive region of a single conductivity type formed in a semiconductor substrate, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises a first main surface area, wherein the resistive region extends in a lateral direction parallel to the main surface area and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the main surface area, wherein the resistive region is isolated from the semiconductor substrate in the lateral direction and comprises for a stress component a first piezo-resistive coefficient for a current flow in the lateral direction and a second piezo-resistive coefficient, different from the first piezo-resistive coefficient, for a current flow in the vertical direction; a first contact structure arranged to contact at least a portion of a first face of the resistive region parallel to the main surface area and positioned at a first distance to the main surface area; a second contact structure arranged to contact at least a portion of a second face of the resistive region different from the first face, parallel to the main surface area and positioned at a second distance to the main surface area different from the first distance; wherein the resistive element is configured to generate, in response to an input signal applied to at least one of the first contact structure and the second contact structure, a current flow distribution within the resistive region between the first contact structure and the second contact structure, the current flow distribution having a lateral component and a vertical component; wherein a combination of the lateral component and the vertical component results in a piezo-resistive coefficient of the resistive element which is defined by the ratio between the lateral component in the lateral direction in the resistive region having the first piezo-resistive coefficient for the current flow in the lateral direction and the vertical component in the vertical direction in the resistive region having the second piezo-resistive coefficient for the current flow in the vertical direction; wherein the resistive element is configured such that a ratio between the lateral component and the vertical component is obtained within the resistive region which results in the specific piezo-resistive coefficient.