1. An acoustic resonator comprising:
a substrate;
a first electrode adjacent the substrate, wherein the first electrode has an outer perimeter;
a piezoelectric layer adjacent the first electrode;
a second electrode adjacent the piezoelectric layer, wherein the second electrode has an outer perimeter; and
a fill region in one of the first and second electrodes.
2. The acoustic resonator of claim 1, wherein a depression is formed in the substrate and wherein the depression has a depression perimeter.
3. The acoustic resonator of claim 1, wherein an acoustic mirror is formed in the substrate and wherein the first electrode spans the acoustic mirror.
4. The acoustic resonator of claim 1 further including a passivation layer adjacent the second electrode, the passivation layer lying in a second plane that is generally parallel to a first plane.
5. The acoustic resonator of claim 2, wherein the fill region in one of the first and second electrodes is outside the depression perimeter.
6. The acoustic resonator of claim 2, wherein the fill region in one of the first and second electrodes is inside the depression perimeter.
7. The acoustic resonator of claim 2, wherein the fill region in one of the first and second electrodes overlaps the depression perimeter.
8. The acoustic resonator of claim 1, wherein the fill region in one of the first and second electrodes is adjacent the outer perimeter.
9. The acoustic resonator of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second electrodes comprise a material that is a different material than a material in the fill region.
10. The acoustic resonator of claim 8, wherein the fill material is a material selected from the group comprising dielectrics, metals, metal alloys, piezoelectrics, Mo, Pt, Al, Cu, W, Au, Ag, polyimide, BCB, SiO2, Si3N4, AlN, ZnO, LiNbO3, PZT, LiTaO3, and Al2O3.
11. The acoustic resonator of claim 1, wherein the fill region extends around a substantial portion of the outer perimeter of one of the first and second electrodes.
12. The acoustic resonator of claim 1 wherein the fill region has a depth in one of the first and second electrodes that is on the order of hundreds to thousands of angstroms and a width on the order of fractions of a micron to tens of microns.
13. The acoustic resonator of claim 1 wherein the fill region is offset from the outer perimeter of one of the first and second electrodes by zero to 10s of microns.
14. An acoustic resonator comprising:
a substrate having a first surface;
a first electrode adjacent the first surface of the substrate;
a layer of piezoelectric material adjacent the first electrode;
a second electrode adjacent the layer of piezoelectric material, the second electrode lying in a first plane; and
a fill region configured in the second electrode.
15. The acoustic resonator of claim 14, wherein a depression having a depression perimeter is formed in the first surface of the substrate and wherein the first electrode spans the depression.
16. The acoustic resonator of claim 14, wherein an acoustic mirror is formed in the first surface of the substrate and wherein the first electrode spans the acoustic mirror.
17. The acoustic resonator of claim 15, wherein the fill region in the second electrode is outside the depression perimeter.
18. The acoustic resonator of claim 15, wherein the fill region in the second electrode is inside the depression perimeter.
19. The acoustic resonator of claim 15, wherein the fill region in the second electrode overlaps the depression perimeter.
20. The acoustic resonator of claim 14, wherein the second electrode comprises a material that is a different material than that in the fill region.
21. The acoustic resonator of claim 14 wherein the fill material is denser than the electrode material such that it increases the acoustic impedance of the fill region relative to that at the center the acoustic resonator.
22. An acoustic resonator comprising:
a substrate;
a first electrode adjacent the substrate;
a layer of piezoelectric material adjacent the first electrode;
a second electrode adjacent the layer of piezoelectric material, wherein the first electrode, the layer of piezoelectric material and the second electrode together form an acoustic membrane having an outer edge and a center; and
means for increasing the acoustic impedance of the outer edge of the acoustic membrane relative to that at the center the acoustic membrane.
23. The acoustic resonator of claim 22, wherein the second electrode comprises a fill region having a material that is different than the material in the second electrode.
24. A method for fabricating an acoustic resonator comprising:
providing a substrate;
fabricating a first electrode adjacent the substrate;
fabricating a piezoelectric layer adjacent the first electrode;
depositing electrode material to form a second electrode up to a first thickness adjacent the piezoelectric layer;
depositing a first photo mask over the second electrode;
depositing additional electrode material to form the second electrode up to a second thickness;
removing the photo mask thereby revealing a recessed region in the second electrode; and
filling the recessed region with a fill material.
25. The method of claim 24, further including depositing a second photo mask over the second electrode before filling the recessed region.
26. The method of claim 24 further including forming a depression in the substrate.
27. The method of claim 24 further including filling the recessed region with a different material than the electrode material.
28. The method of claim 24, wherein filling the recessed region includes filling with a material selected from the group comprising dielectrics, metals, metal alloys, piezoelectrics, Mo, Pt, Al, Cu, W, Au, Ag, polyimide, BCB, SiO2, Si3N4, AlN, ZnO, LiNbO3, PZT, LiTaO3, and Al2O3.
29. A method for fabricating an acoustic resonator comprising:
providing a substrate;
fabricating a first electrode adjacent the substrate;
fabricating a piezoelectric layer adjacent the first electrode;
depositing electrode material to form a second electrode;
depositing a first photo mask over the second electrode;
etching the second electrode to form a recessed region in the second electrode; and
filling the recessed region with a fill material.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising:
propagating a voltage signal along a conductive path, at least a portion of the conductive path being adjacent to one or more insulators, wherein at least a portion of the one or more insulators comprise a mixture of a refractory metal and a non-refractory metal;
generating a charge field associated with the voltage signal across a region of the mixture between a section of the conductive path and one or more electrodes;
retaining the charge field between the section of the conductive path and the one or more electrodes based on a first specified signal; and
removing at least a portion of the charge field based on a second specified signal.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating includes establishing a charge field across a region including one or more TayAlzOxNw amorphous regions, where y, z, x, w are integer values, and where y is 1 or 2, z is 1 or 2, x is 0, 1, 3 or 5, and w is 0 or 1.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating includes coupling electric charge across a region including TayAlzOxNw, where y, z, x, w are relative mole fractions.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein retaining includes transferring charge across a region including TaAlON.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a charge field includes inducing a charge field in a region between the one or more electrodes.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating includes inducing an inversion layer in the region between the one or more electrodes.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating includes inducing a charge depletion layer in the region between the one or more electrodes.
8. A method comprising:
forming alternating dielectrics layers on a substrate, the layers including at least one of a refractory metal or a non-refractory metal;
surrounding the alternating layers in an environment comprising at least one of a nitrogen compound or an oxygen compound; and
forming one or more oxynitrides using the alternating layers.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein forming alternating dielectric layers includes forming alternating dielectric layers of TaOxN and AlOyN, where x, and y are integers with values of 0 or 1.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein forming alternating dielectric layers includes forming alternating TayAlzOxNw layers, where y, z, x, w are integer values, and where y is 1 or 2, z is 1 or 2, x is 0, 1, 3 or 5, and w is 0 or 1.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein forming alternating dielectric layers includes alternating pairs of dielectric layers including at least one of a Ta2O5Al2O3, a TaONAlON, a Ta2O5AlN, a TaNAl2O3, or a TaNAlN.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein surrounding includes surrounding the alternating layers in a microwave plasma.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein surrounding includes surrounding the alternating layers in an ambient comprising at least one of a dinitrogen, an ammonia, or a 1,1-dimethyl-hydrazine.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein forming one or more oxynitrides includes forming one or more TaAlON layers with less than 50 atomic % nitrogen.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein forming one or more oxynitride layers includes forming one or more TaAlON layers with greater than 20 atomic % oxygen.
16. A method comprising:
generating a microwave plasma using a vapor comprising a nitrogen compound;
forming a nitride using an oxide layer that includes at least one of a refractory metal or a non-refractory metal; and
patterning a region comprising at least one of refractory metal oxynitride or a non-refractory metal oxynitride.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein generating includes generating a microwave plasma using vapor comprising at least one of a dinitrogen, an ammonia, or a 1,1-dimethyl-hydrazine.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein forming the nitride includes forming a nitride region that includes TayAlzOxNw, where y, z, x, w are relative mole fractions.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein forming the nitride includes forming TayAlzOxNw with at least one of x, y, z, or w vary in a direction substantially perpendicular to a major surface of a substrate.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein forming the nitride includes forming TaxAl1-x-y-zOyNz, between two or more conductive regions.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein forming the nitride includes forming TayAlzOxNw with at least one of x, y, z, or w vary in a direction substantially parallel to a major surface of a substrate.