Abstract:
This invention is directed to a method of making a capacitive distance sensor that includes one or more sensor cells each with first and second capacitor plates. The method includes determining an expected range of sizes of objects the sensor will be used to detect and determining a total perimeter value for each of a plurality of capacitor patterns. Each capacitor pattern includes a different arrangement of the first and second capacitor plates and the total perimeter value is the sum of the perimeter values for the first and second capacitor plates. The method selects one of the capacitor patterns based on the expected size of the object and on the total perimeter values determined for the capacitor patterns. The selecting step includes selecting whichever one of the capacitor patterns has the largest total perimeter value if the object is smaller than each of the one or more sensor cells.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/614,093, entitled “Capacitive Distance Sensor,” filed Jul. 11, 2000, and allowed Oct. 26, 2001, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/040,261 filed Mar. 9, 1998, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,862, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/019,496 entitled “Capacitive Distance Sensor,” filed Feb. 5, 1998, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,320,394, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application entitled “Capacitive Distance Sensor,” filed Feb. 13, 1997 and given Ser. No. 08/799,548, now abandoned, all assigned to STMicroelectronics. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to the method of making a capacitive distance sensor, in particular, a small-distance sensor. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Small-distance sensors are used, among other things, as pressure, proximity, roughness, mechanical stress and acceleration sensors, for example, in integrated microphony and for acquiring fingerprints. 
     For fingerprint acquisition in particular (to which reference is made herein purely by way of example of a preferred application of the present invention), known sensors include various types, such as optical, piezoelectric, variable-conductance, thermal, ultrasonic and capacitive, the most promising of which in terms of precision, size, production and cost are capacitive sensors. 
     Capacitive sensors are based on the principle that the capacitance between two capacitor plates is inversely proportional to the distance between them, so that, using the contacting dermal tissue itself as one capacitor plate of the sensor capacitor, and by determining the capacitance, it is possible to locate the ridges and grooves of the fingerprint. This is the principle used in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,442 to Knapp, which relates to a sensor comprising an array of elementary cells, each comprising a sensitive electrode and an electronic switching device. The electrode is coated with dielectric material, such as passivation oxide or a polymer compound, onto which the finger is placed with the epidermis in contact with the dielectric material. When a cell is selected, a predetermined variation in potential is applied to the electrode to induce at the terminals an appropriate variation in charge. The extent of variation in charge depends on the capacitance associated with the electrode and is read by amplifying elements connected to the output of the device. To improve efficiency, the above patent suggests a surface grid connected to a reference potential to appropriately bias the skin tissue. 
     In the above known capacitive sensor, the capacitance between the capacitor plates of a capacitor varies in inverse proportion to the distance between the capacitor plates, which therefore poses the problem of normalizing the resulting data. In particular, if the capacitance being measured is very small, serious difficulty is encountered in detecting the charge and discriminating between the various intermediate charge levels corresponding to different grey levels of the image to be generated in the presence of a low signal/noise ratio. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to the method of making a capacitive distance sensor for measuring small distances between the sensor device and an object. The distance sensor includes first and second capacitor plates for forming respective first and second capacitances between the capacitor plates and the object when positioned adjacent to the object. A fringing, third capacitance may also be present between the two capacitor plates. The first and second capacitor plates are arranged in a geometric pattern in which a plurality of faces of the first capacitor plate are positioned adjacent to and facing a plurality of faces of the second capacitor plate. The distance sensor also includes an amplifier having an input connected to one of the capacitor plates and an output connected to another one of the capacitor plates to form a negative feedback branch that includes the first and second capacitances. The sensor device may also include a grounding element surrounding the first and second capacitor plates to provide a discharge path for electrostatic discharge caused by the object. 
     This invention is directed to a method of making a capacitive distance sensor that includes one or more sensor cells each with first and second capacitor plates. The method includes determining an expected range of sizes of objects the sensor will be used to detect and determining a total perimeter value for each of a plurality of capacitor patterns. Each capacitor pattern includes a different arrangement of the first and second capacitor plates and the total perimeter value is the sum of the perimeter values for the first and second capacitor plates. The method selects one of the capacitor patterns based on the expected size of the object and on the total perimeter values determined for the capacitor patterns. The selecting step includes selecting whichever one of the capacitor patterns has the largest total perimeter value if the object is smaller than each of the one or more sensor cells. The selected capacitor pattern is then formed in at least one of the one or more sensor cells. 
     Fingerprint and other biometric sensors formed in accordance with the present invention will have application in preventing the unauthorized use of cellular phones, laptop computers, automobiles, automated teller machines, credit/debit card readers, POS terminals, and smart cards. They are also useful in authenticating electronic financial transactions, personal e-mail, providing access to buildings, etc. Biometric identification, such as personal identification and authentication alternatives which could be accomplished by mounting a sensor as taught by the present invention include hand or finger shape, facial shape, and facial features. In addition, the sensor device of the present invention could be used for non-biometric sensing, such as handwriting detection, switch actuation, and any other device requiring sensitivity to object proximity. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a sensor device for acquiring personal feature scans, such as fingerprints, according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a detial of a cell of the sensor device shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 shows an electric equivalent of the cell shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is an illustration showing a finger positioned on two adjacent cells of the sensor device shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the sensor device shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of one embodiment of the cell shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 7 is an image of a fingerprint obtained from the sensor device shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 8 is a top elevational view of a first embodiment of the cells shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 9 is a top elevational view of a second embodiment of the cells shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 10 is a top elevational view of a third embodiment of the cells shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 11 is a top elevational view of a fourth embodiment of the cells shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 12 is a top elevational view of a fifth embodiment of the cells shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 13 is a top elevational view of an array of sensor cells of a sensor device according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a sensor device  1 , preferably embodied in an integrated chip, for sensing a distance between the sensor device and an object according to the present invention. As used herein, the term “object” is used according to its broadest meaning and may include solid, liquid, gas, and plasma-based things. The sensor device  1  includes a number of cells  2  arranged to form an array  3  and each constituting an elementary sensor. The simplicity of the individual cells  2  enables the sensor device  1  to be implemented in integrated form on a single semiconductor chip. 
     The sensor device  1  also comprises a horizontal scanning stage  5  and a vertical scanning stage  6  for enabling one of the cells  2  at a time according to a predetermined scanning pattern. Preferably, to read the cells, stages  5 ,  6  enable the outputs of the cells  2  sequentially, and comprise shift registers. Alternatively, other cell reading devices could be employed, such as a random access decoder that reads addressed cells rather than sequentially scanning the cells  2 . 
     The sensor device  1  also comprises a supply and logic stage  7 , which supplies the components of the device with power (including the cells  2 ), feeds the necessary reference voltages, and controls the sequence of steps provided for (as explained in detail below). In particular, FIG. 1 shows that the supply and logic stage  7  includes a voltage source  12  for generating a reference voltage variation ΔV R . A buffer  8  is connected to the outputs of all the cells  2 , and supplies sequentially, at output  10  of the sensor array  3 , the signals present at the outputs of the cells  2  enabled by scanning stages  5 ,  6 . 
     As shown in FIG. 2, each cell  2  comprises a low-power inverting amplifier  13  of gain A, in turn presenting an input  16  at input voltage V i , and an output  17 , at output voltage V o , which also defines the output of cell  2 . Each cell  2  also includes first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  of equal area positioned facing the skin surface  18  of the finger being printed. Preferably, the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  are coplanar with respect to each other. In addition, the first capacitor plate  23  includes a face  35  that faces a face  36  of the second capacitor plate  24  and the faces  35 ,  36  are separated from each other by a first passivation layer  90  as discussed in more detail with respect to FIGS. 8-12. A reset switch  19  is connected between the input  16  and output  17  of the inverting amplifier  13 . An input capacitor  20  is connected between an input  21  of the cell  2  and the input  16  of the inverting amplifier  13 . 
     More specifically, the first and second capacitor plates  23  and  24  are respectively connected to the output  17  and the input  16  of the inverting amplifier  13 , thus realizing a charge integrator. The first and second capacitor plates  23  and  24  are covered with a dielectric insulating layer  25  that covers the face of integrated sensor device  1 , including the entire array  3  of cells  2 . In use, therefore, skin surface  18  forms a third capacitor plate facing the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24 , and defining with them a pair of series capacitors feedback connected between input  16  and output  17  of inverting amplifier  13 . Accordingly, a contact grid is not required to bias the skin surface at constant voltage. In addition, a fringing, third capacitance is formed between the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24 . 
     The switch  19  is a controlled switch formed using any known technology (e.g., a MOS switch) and receives a control signal R from the supply and logic stage  7 . The input  21  of the cell  2  is also connected to the supply and logic stage  7  to receive a voltage signal ΔV R  as explained below. 
     To acquire fingerprints, the skin surface  18  is placed on the surface of integrated sensor device  1 , at array  3 , to complete the capacitors forming the feedback loops of amplifiers  13  of all the cells  2 . At the start of the measurement, the switches  19  of all the cells are closed, and the voltage level at each of inputs  21  is constant, so that the input voltage V i  of all the cells  2  is brought to the same potential as the output voltage V o , between the supply and ground at a high-gain point or logical threshold Vt of inverting amplifier  13 . 
     Subsequently, the supply and logic stage  7  opens all the switches  19  in parallel, and supplies all the inputs  21  with a voltage step ΔV R , so that a charge variation ΔQ=C i *ΔV R  (where C i  is the capacitance of input capacitor  20 ) is induced at the terminals of each input capacitor  20  to permit a reading, as explained below, of the local distance “d” between the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  and skin surface  18  facing them. The local distance “d” varies according to whether the point being measured corresponds to a groove, a ridge or a point between the two. 
     Scanning stages  5 ,  6  then sequentially enable the reading of cells  2 , so that the voltage signal at the output  10  of the buffer  8  is supplied to a system for representing the distance, in known manner, by means of grey levels, and so providing a three-dimensional display of the skin surface. 
     The way in which the local distance “d” between the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  of each cell  2  and the third capacitor plate formed by the skin surface  18  is detected will now be described with reference to the equivalent electric diagram in FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 3 shows an equivalent input capacitance  30  and an equivalent output capacitance  31  of the inverting amplifier  13  and the charge flow direction (indicated by the arrows) corresponding to the voltage variations at the capacitor plates. FIG. 3 also shows a first feedback capacitor  33  formed by the first capacitor plate  23  and the skin surface  18 , a second feedback capacitor  34  formed by the second capacitor plate  24  and the skin surface  18 , and a third feedback capacitor  37  formed between the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24 . 
     Assuming C l  is the equivalent input capacitance  30  of inverting amplifier  13 ; C r  is the total capacitance of the feedback capacitors  33 ,  34 , and  37 ; A is the gain of the inverting amplifier  13 ; ΔQ is the charge variation induced in the equivalent input capacitance  30  by voltage step ΔV R ; ΔQ i  is the charge variation stored in the equivalent input capacitance  30  as a result of step ΔV R ; ΔQ r  is the charge variation in the feedback branch formed by the series connection of the feedback capacitors  33 ,  34 ; ΔV i  is the voltage step at the input  16  of the inverting amplifier  13 ; ΔV o  is the corresponding voltage variation at the output  17  (equal to −A ΔV i ); S is the size of the top face (the face closest to the skin surface  18 ) of each capacitor plate  23 ,  24  of capacitors  33 ,  34 ; ε o  is the dielectric constant (seeing as, in the fingerprinting application, the average distance between the skin surface  18  and the insulating layer  25 —typically 60 μm at the grooves—is greater than the thickness of layer  25 —typically 2 μm); and “d” is the local distance between capacitor plates  23 ,  24  and skin surface  18  (approximately the same for both capacitor plates  23 ,  24 , in view of the very small size of cells  2 —typically about 45 μm); then total feedback capacitance C r  is given by the following equation:                C   r     =       S                   ɛ   o         2      d               (   1   )                                
     Moreover:          Δ                 Q     =         Δ                   Q   i       +     Δ                   Q   r         =           C   l        Δ                   V   i       +       C   r          (       Δ                   V   i       -     Δ                   V   o         )         =         -                  Δ                   V   o       A            (       C   1     +     C   r       )       -     Δ                   V   o          C   r                                    
     so that:                Δ                   V   o       =     -                  Δ                 Q           C   1     A     +       (     1   +     1   A       )          C   r                     (   2   )                                
     Substituting (1) in (2) gives:                Δ                   V   o       =         Δ                 Q           C   1     A     +       (     1   +     1   A       )            S                   ɛ   o         2      d             =     -                  2      Δ                 Qd           2        C   1        d     A     +       (     1   +     1   A       )        S                   ɛ   o                       (   3   )                                
     Assuming A&gt;&gt;1, (3) becomes:                Δ                   V   o       =     d                     2      Δ                 Q       S                   ɛ   o                   (   4   )                                
     Consequently, by virtue of the negative feedback effected by capacitive coupling the output  17  and input  16  of the inverting amplifier  13  via the skin tissue, the variation in output voltage as a result of the charge step is directly proportional to the distance between the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  and the skin surface  18 , in turn dependent on the three-dimensional structure of the skin. For a fixed amount of the input voltage step ΔV i , the output voltage of the inverter  13  will range between two extremes, depending on feedback capacitance value: (i) the upper saturation level if no feedback capacitance is present; (ii) a value close to the logical threshold when the feedback capacitance is large. 
     With appropriate amplification levels (e.g., 1000-2000), it is possible to detect differences in capacitance of about ten fF and hence micrometric distances. The output signals of the device according to the invention are therefore such, when converted into grey levels, as to provide a highly reliable representation of the three-dimensional structure of the skin surface. 
     The operation of the sensor device  1  can be further appreciated with regard to FIG. 4, which is an illustration of the skin surface  18  positioned on first and second adjacent cells  2 A,  2 B of the sensor device  1 . It is to be understood that the present invention will have application to thumbs, palms, and any contact surface where an image is desired. Each of the adjacent cells  2 A,  2 B is substantially identical to the cell  2  shown in FIGS. 2-3, and thus, additional detailed discussions of the elements of cells  2 A,  2 B are being omitted for simplicity. Switches  19 A and  19 B constitute reset switches, as explained in more detail elsewhere herein. The elements of the adjacent cells  2 A,  2 B are marked with labels corresponding to the labels of FIGS. 2 and 3 with an “A” and a “B” added to the cells  2 A and  2 B, respectively. 
     The skin surface  18  shown in FIG. 4 includes a ridge  36  adjacent to the first cell  2 A and a valley  38  adjacent to the second cell  2 B. As a result, the first and second cells  2 A,  2 B will each produce different capacitive coupling responses in the sensor device  1 . Accordingly, the first cell  2 A will sense a smaller distance d 1 , signifying the ridge  36 , than the second cell  2 B, which senses a larger distance d 2 , signifying the valley  38 . The distance d 2  sensed by the second cell  2 B will be the average of a distance d 2   a  between the first capacitor plate  23 B and the portion of the skin surface  18  directly above the first capacitor plate  23 B and a distance d 2   b  between the second capacitor plate  24 B and the portion of the skin surface  18  directly above the second capacitor plate  24 B. From a lumped-model point of view, this structure realizes a three-capacitor scheme that can sense the difference between a contacting member, a ridge, and a non-contacting member, a valley. A block diagram of the sensor device  1  according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.  5 . The sensor device  1  includes the sensor array  3  which is coupled by a digital to analog (D/A) converter  40  to an I 2 C interface and control device  42  and a bias generator  44 . For simplicity, the horizontal and vertical scanners  5 , 6  and the output buffer  8  are not shown in FIG. 5, but are part of the sensor device  1  shown in FIG.  5 . The sensor device  1  also includes an oscillator  46  and timing generator  48  coupled to the sensor array  3 . The D/A converter  40 , I 2 C interface and control device  42 , bias generator  44 , oscillator  46 , and timing generator  48  together implement the functionality of the supply and logic unit  7  discussed above. The I 2 C interface and control device  42  provides a bidirectional communication protocol that enables the sensor device  1  to communicate with a controller, such as a standard computer. The D/A converter  40  converts digital control signals from the I 2 C interface and control device  42  into analog signals that are transmitted to the sensor array  3  to control the scanning of the cells  2  by the horizontal and vertical scanners  5 , 6 . The D/A converter  40  also provides analog biases, such as the voltage step V r . The timing generator  48  takes a single clock signal from the oscillator  46  and generates timing signals that are provided to the sensor array  3  under the control of the I 2 C interface and control device  42 . 
     To enable the distance measurements (represented by voltages) to be output to the computer coupled to the sensor device  1 , the sensor device includes an analog to digital (A/D) converter  50  coupled between the output  10  of the sensor array  3  and the computer. The A/D converter  50  also is coupled to the bias generator  44  and timing generator  48  to enable the A/D converter  50  to convert the analog voltage measurements output by the sensor array  3  to digital signals that are recognized by the computer as distance measurements. The sensor array  3  also is directly coupled to the computer by a synchronization line  52  that provides the computer with synchronization signals that help the computer properly interpret the digital distance measurements received from the A/D converter  50 . 
     A detailed schematic of one embodiment of the cell  2  of FIG. 2 is illustrated in FIG.  6 . The cell  2  includes first and second transistors M 1 , M 2  of the N-channel type and third and fourth transistors M 3 , M 4  of the P-channel type connected together in series to comprise a high gain cascode inverting amplifier  13 . A first horizontal scan line (hor 1 ) and a first vertical scan line (vert 1 ) are coupled respectively from the horizontal and vertical scanners  5 ,  6  to the second transistor M 2  and the third transistor M 3  to ensure that only one cell at a time is powered, thereby limiting power consumption of non-addressed cells. A gate terminal of the first transistor M 1  is coupled by the input capacitor  20  of the cell  2  to the cell input  21 . ΔV r , as discussed above. When the voltage step ΔV r  is applied to the input node  21 , a charge amount dQ=C i ΔV r  is sinked from the amplifier input  16  as previously explained. This mode of operation is useful since by changing the amount of ΔV r , the sensor can deal with different ranges of sensed capacitances. The gate of the fourth transistor M 4  is coupled to a fixed bias V p . 
     The output  17  of the inverting amplifier  13  is buffered by a source follower stage (fifth transistor M 5 ) into a vertical output line  54  by means of a sixth transistor M 6 . A seventh transistor M 7  couples the vertical output line  54  to the output buffer  8  of the sensor device  1 . The gate of the sixth transistor M 6  is coupled by a second horizontal scan line (hor 2 ) to the horizontal scanner  5  and the gate of the seventh transistor M 7  is coupled by a second vertical scan line (vert 2 ) to the vertical scanner  6 , which ensures that only one cell at a time is communicating with the output buffer  8 . This greatly reduces the output capacitance of the follower stage M 6  since only one vertical output line at a time is connected to the output buffer  8 . 
     The reset switch  19  is connected between the input  16  and output  17  of the inverting amplifier  13  as discussed above. The reset switch  19  is designed to prevent charge injection in the input  16  from saturating the inverting amplifier  13 . If the switch-off transient of the reset switch  19  is slow enough compared to the inverse of the gain bandwidth product of the inverting amplifier  13 , most of the channel charge of the reset switch is injected into the output node. The reset switch  19  includes eighth and ninth transistors M 8 , M 9  with their drain terminals coupled together to the input  16  and their source terminals coupled together to the output  17 . The size of the eighth transistor M 8  is small in order to reduce the absolute amount of injected charge. Reducing the dimension of the eighth transistor M 8  degrades the stability of the inverting amplifier  13  since it reduces the loop gain-bandwidth. In this design, the ninth transistor M 9  is stronger than the eighth transistor M 8  and is activated at a different phase than the eighth transistor M 8  is introduced. During the reset phase, both transistors M 8 , M 9  are set, reducing resistance of the feedback loop so output ringing is contained. During charge integration, the ninth transistor M 9  is first opened so its channel charge is absorbed by the eighth transistor M 8 . Finally, the eighth transistor M 8  is opened by a slow gate transient to ensure low charge-injection on the input. It will be appreciated that the ninth transistor M 9  is optional because charge injection is less of an issue if the plate capacities are bigger. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the chip is made using a 0.7 μm CMOS digital process. The cell area is 50×50 μm , giving a 508 dpi resolution. A sample image  56  produced for a 200×200 window is shown in FIG. 7, which clearly shows grey levels. The image disappears as the finger is removed. 
     The sensitivity of the individual sensor cells  2 , and thus the entire sensor device  1 , can be controlled and enhanced by arranging the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  in one or more planar patterns. A first pattern of the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  is shown in FIG.  8 . The first capacitor plate  23  is C-shaped and has two ends  60 ,  62  that define a gap  64  therebetween. The first capacitor plate  23  includes elongated first, second, and third segments  66 ,  68 ,  70  that define three sides of the C-shape and shorter fourth and fifth segments  72 ,  74  that terminate in the first and second ends  60 ,  62  on a fourth side of the C-shape. The five segments  66 — 74  of the first capacitor plate  23  together define an inner area  76  within which is positioned a rectangular inner portion  78  of the second capacitor plate  24 . The second capacitor plate  24  also includes an elongated, rectangular outer portion  80  outside of the first capacitor plate and a connector portion  82  that connects the inner portion  78  with the outer portion  80 . 
     The first capacitor plate  23  includes several faces that are adjacent to and face corresponding faces of the second capacitor plate  24  which allows fringing capacitances to be developed between the capacitor plates. In particular, the first capacitor plate  23  has first and second faces  83 ,  84  that face respective first and second faces  85 ,  86  of the second capacitor plate  24 . In addition, the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  respectively include upper faces  87 ,  88  that face the object being sensed and allowed first and second direct capacitances to develop between the object and the first and second capacitor plates, respectively. 
     Completely surrounding the sensor cell  2  is a ground ring  89  that is connected to ground to provide a discharge path for any electrostatic discharge that is caused by the object being sensed. For example, if the sensor cell  2  is being used to detect a fingerprint, the finger may produce an electrostatic discharge as it approaches the sensor cell, which would produce an erroneous distance measurement if allowed to discharge through one of the capacitor plates  23 ,  24 . Like the capacitor plates  23 ,  24 , the ground ring  89  is a metal pattern layer that can be deposited according to well-known techniques as part of an integrated circuit that includes the elements shown in FIG.  2 . 
     The ground ring  89  is separated electrically and physically from the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  by a first passivation layer  90  that also physically separates and electrically insulates the first capacitor plate  23  from the second capacitor plate  24 . The first passivation layer  90  can be composed of many known dielectric materials, such as phosphorous doped glass (PSG), silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride. A second passivation layer (not shown in FIG. 8) is deposited on the capacitor plates  23 ,  24 , ground ring  89 , and first passivation layer  90  and acts as the dielectric insulating layer  25  shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The average distance between the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  and the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 generally is between 0.5 and 4 μm which is similar to the typical thickness of the insulating layer  25 . 
     The total feedback capacitance experienced by the inverter amplifier  13  (FIG. 2) is composed of a first direct capacitance between the first capacitor plate  23  and the object, a second direct capacitance between the second capacitor plate  24  and the object, and a fringing capacitance between the first capacitor plate  23  and the second capacitor plate  24 . The first and second direct capacitances vary according to the respective areas of the upper faces of the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24  as described in Equation  1 . As such, increasing the areas of the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  increases the total capacitance, which provides more sensitivity and a greater dynamic range for the sensor device  1 . The fringing capacitance varies according to the perimeter values for the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24 , that is, a total length of the perimeters of the capacitor plates. The widths of the top surfaces of the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  generally is an order of magnitude greater than the depth of the sides of the capacitor plates, and thus, the direct capacitances generally contribute more to the total capacitance than the fringing capacitance. 
     Based on experiments done to date, it appears that objects adjacent to the sensor device  1  affect both the direct capacitances between the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  and the object and the fringing capacitance between the capacitor plates. As such, increasing the total perimeter of the capacitor pattern, assuming the total area does not change, will cause the sensor cell  2  to detect the distance between the sensor cell and the object to a greater degree due to fringing capacitance. This may explain why patterns with higher total perimeters appear to be more sensitive to objects smaller than an individual sensor cell  2 , such as molecules. 
     A second embodiment of the sensor cell  2  is shown in FIG.  9 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the first capacitor plate  23  has several fingers  91  that are interdigitated with fingers  92  of the second capacitor plate  24 . A first connecting segment  93  connects the fingers  91  of the first capacitor plate to each other and a second connecting segment  94  connects the fingers  92  of the second capacitor plate to each other. As in FIG. 8, the first capacitor plate  23  is separated from the second capacitor plate  24  and from the ground ring  89  by the first passivation layer  90 . In addition, the first capacitor plate  23  has several faces that face corresponding faces of the first capacitor plate. As can be seen, the total perimeter for the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  in the pattern shown in FIG. 9 is greater than the total perimeter of the capacitor plates  23 ,  24  in the pattern shown in FIG.  8 . As a result, the interdigitated pattern shown in FIG. 9 likely will have greater fringing capacitance than the pattern shown in FIG.  8 . In addition, the interdigitated pattern of FIG. 9 will have a greater sensitivity to smaller objects, such as water vapor, than the pattern of FIG.  8 . However, the pattern of FIG. 8 generally will be more robust and cost less than the interdigitated pattern of FIG. 9 because of the complicated nature of the interdigitated pattern. 
     A third embodiment of the sensor cell  2  is shown in FIG.  10 . The first capacitor plate  23  includes two rectangular portions  96 ,  98  positioned in diagonally opposite first and second sections of the sensor cell  2  and are connected by a connector portion  100 . Similarly, the second capacitor plate also includes two rectangular portions  102 ,  104  positioned in diagonally opposite third and fourth sections of the sensor cell  2  and are connected by a second connector portion  106 . To avoid shorting the capacitor  23 ,  24 , one of the connector portions  100 ,  106  is positioned in a lower metal layer than the other connector portion with a passivation layer (not shown) electrically insulating the two connector portions. As in FIGS. 8-9, the first capacitor plate  23  is separated from the second capacitor plate  24  and from the ground ring  89  by the first passivation layer  90 . In one of the pattern shown in FIG. 10, each capacitor plate  23 ,  24  is approximately 441 μm 2 , for a total capacitor area of 882 μm 2 . 
     A fourth embodiment of the sensor cell  2  is shown in FIG.  11 . The first capacitor plate  23  includes five fingers  108  extending outwardly from a central portion  109 . The first capacitor plate  23  is coplaner with and completely surrounded by the second capacitor plate  24 . The second capacitor plate  24  also includes five fingers  110  that interdigitate with the five fingers  108  of the first capacitor plate  23 . Once again, the first capacitor plate  23  is separated from the second capacitor plate  24  and from the ground ring  89  by the first the passivation layer  90 . It will be appreciated that the patterns shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 have smaller total perimeters and the total perimeter of the interdigitated pattern of FIG. 9, and thus, likely would be less sensitive to objects smaller than the sensor cell  2 , such as water vapor and molecules. The patterns of FIGS. 10 and 11 are easier to make than the pattern of FIG.  9  and are more robust and less costly. 
     A fifth embodiment of the sensor cell  2  is shown in FIG.  12 . In the sensor cell  2  of FIG. 12 the first and second capacitor plates  23 ,  24 , are arranged in a spiral pattern. As in the other patterns, the first capacitor plate  23  is separated from the second capacitor plate  24  and from the ground ring  89  by the first passivation layer  90 . The spiral pattern shown in FIG. 12 has a greater total perimeter, but a less total area than the capacitor pattern shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. As a result, the spiral pattern of FIG. 12 likely will be more sensitive to very small objects, such as water vapor, likely will be less sensitive to large objects, such as fingers because its lower total area produces less total capacitance. 
     A top elevational view of the array  3  of sensor cell  2  of the sensor device  1  is shown in FIG.  13 . In the embodiments shown in FIG. 13, each of the sensor cells  2  is square, although other rectangles and other shapes could be employed depending on the application. Each sensor cell  2  typically will be from an approximately 25×25 μm to approximately 100×100 μm. In one implication, each sensor cell is 50×50 μm which corresponds to a 508 dots per inch (dpi) resolution. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the ground rings  89  are shared by adjacent sensor cells  2  to produce a grounding element grid  112 . The grounding element grid  112  includes grounding grid segments  114  between each cell and its immediately adjacent cells. Such a grounding element grid insures that any ESD produced by the object being sensed will be discharged through the grounding element grid directly to ground rather than through the capacitor plates  23 ,  24 . Each of the sensor cells  2  of the array  3  can include the same pattern of capacitor plates  23 ,  24  or plural capacitor patterns could be employed depending on the application. Each sensor cell  2  can imply any of the capacitor patterns shown in FIGS. 8-12 or numerous other capacitor patterns such as fractal patterns and numerous other shapes. 
     The sensor cells  2  described above are preferably formed using conventional silicon integrated circuit methodology. More particularly, all of the elements of the sensor device  1  shown in FIGS. 1-6 can be integrated on a single chip. Alternatively, one or more of the elements, such as the oscillator  46 , can be made separately and coupled to the integrated elements of the sensor device  1 . 
     The sensor device shown in FIGS. 1-6 and  8 - 13  has at least the following advantages. In particular, as stated, the sensor device provides for a high degree of precision with no need for complex processing of the output signal. Further, the sensor device may be produced easily and integrated using current microelectronic technology and is highly reliable, compact, and cheap to produce. 
     The sensor device according to the invention may also be used to advantage in other applications requiring precise detection of small distances. 
     Moreover, the simple design of each cell enables a large number of cells to be accommodated in array structures for detecting two-dimensional physical quantities. 
     Clearly, changes may be made to the device as described and illustrated herein without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, if fabrication techniques enabling the formation of elastic structures (micromachining techniques) are available, the electrode whose distance is being measured may be connected directly to the input or output of inverting amplifier  13  to eliminate one of capacitor plates  23 ,  24 . Moreover, all the components may be replaced by technical equivalents. For example, though an inverter such as inverting amplifier  13  is currently preferred for design and layout reasons, amplifier  13  may be implemented by any inverting or differential amplifier (e.g., an operational amplifier) in a charge amplifier configuration to increase the speed of the output signal.