Patent ID: 8878790

Claim:
A microelectronic pressure sensor, comprising: a substrate; a MOSFET transistor including: source and drain regions in the substrate; a channel between the source and drain region in the substrate; a mobile gate formed from a first material over the channel, the mobile gate having an upper surface and sidewalls; and a first cavity that separates the mobile gate from the channel; and a gate actuator formed from a second non-conductive material that is different from the first material, the gate actuator being formed above the mobile gate, the gate actuator being in contact with the upper surface and sidewalls of the mobile gate, an upper surface of the gate actuator being configured to receive a pressure from a physical object and to move said mobile gate toward the channel in response to the pressure on the upper surface of the gate actuator, the upper surface of the gate actuator being separated from the cavity by the mobile gate, the gate actuator being an elastic material that has a thickness between the upper surface of the mobile gate and the upper surface of the gate actuator, the thickness of the gate actuator being configured to vertically compress in a plurality of locations in response to the pressure, the plurality of locations corresponding to a plurality of locations on the object.