Patent ID: 7371601

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a piezoresistive sensing structure comprising a beam, said method comprising the steps of: implanting a piezoresistive element into a first side of an assembly, wherein the assembly includes a semiconductor material having a beam region corresponding to a desired pattern for the beam and adjacent areas to the beam region; forming a passivation layer on the first side of the assembly over the element; removing the passivation layer from the adjacent areas on the first side of the assembly such that said passivation layer overlies the beam region and has an edge at the adjacent areas and a border adjacent to the edge; providing a first mask on the passivation layer in a desired pattern, said mask having a sidewall overlying the passivation layer such that the border is exposed between the edge of the passivation layer and the sidewall; and etching to remove the adjacent areas of the assembly, and thereby form the beam in the assembly over at least a portion of the assembly that is to provide a cavity, wherein the passivation layer provides a second mask in the formation of the beam that determines a width of the formed beam, and wherein the beam includes the element.