Patents by Inventor Mario Birkholz

Mario Birkholz has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9638617
    Abstract: Micro-electromechanical device for measuring the viscosity of a fluid, comprises a measuring chamber with a micromechanical actuator, arranged as a cantilever above a metallically conductive counter electrode, elastically deformable towards the counter electrode, surrounded by the fluid to be measured and made of a metallically conductive material, a two-terminal RF voltage source that can be switched off, having a first output terminal connected to the actuator, and a second output terminal connected to the counter electrode, and which is designed to output an RF voltage signal that is suitable for deflecting the actuator out of its rest position, and a measuring device to detect a change in the frequency, amplitude or phase of the RF signal in order to determine a measurement value for the viscosity-dependent speed at which the actuator is deformed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: IHP GMBH—INNOVATIONS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE MICROELECTRONICS/LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR INNOVATIVE MIKROELEKTRONIK
    Inventors: Mario Birkholz, Jurgen Drews, Karl-Ernst Ehwald, Dieter Genschow, Ulrich Haak, Philip Kulse, Egbert Matthus, Katrin Schulz, Wolfgang Winkler, Dirk Wolansky, Marlen Frohlich
  • Patent number: 9048052
    Abstract: The invention relates to a microelectromechanical system with an electromechanical microswitch for switching an electrical signal in particular a radio frequency signal, in particular in a GHz range, comprising a multi-level conductive path layer stack arranged on a substrate, wherein conductive paths of the multi-level conductive path layer stack arranged in different conductive levels are insulated from one another through electrically insulating layers and electrically connected with one another through via contacts, an electromechanical switch which is integrated in a recess of the multi-level conductive path layer stack and which includes a contact pivot, an opposite contact and at least one drive electrode for the contact pivot, wherein the contact pivot, the opposite contact and the at least one drive electrode respectively form a portion of a conductive level of the multi-level layer stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: IHP GmbH—INNOVATIONS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE MICROELECTRONICS/LIEBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR INNOVATIVE MIKROELEKTRONIK
    Inventors: Mehmet Kaynak, Mario Birkholz, Bernd Tillack, Karl-Ernst Ehwald, René Scholz
  • Publication number: 20140000344
    Abstract: Micro-electromechanical device for measuring the viscosity of a fluid, comprises a measuring chamber with a micromechanical actuator, arranged as a cantilever above a metallically conductive counter electrode, elastically deformable towards the counter electrode, surrounded by the fluid to be measured and made of a metallically conductive material, a two-terminal RF voltage source that can be switched off, having a first output terminal connected to the actuator, and a second output terminal connected to the counter electrode, and which is designed to output an RF voltage signal that is suitable for deflecting the actuator out of its rest position, and a measuring device to detect a change in the frequency, amplitude or phase of the RF signal in order to determine a measurement value for the viscosity-dependent speed at which the actuator is deformed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Publication date: January 2, 2014
    Inventors: Mario Birkholz, Jurgen Drews, Karl-Ernst Ehwald, Dieter Genschow, Ulrich Haak, Philip Kulse, Egbert Matthus, Katrin Schulz, Wolfgang Winkler, Dirk Wolansky, Marlen Frohlich
  • Publication number: 20120280393
    Abstract: The invention relates to a microelectromechanical system with an electromechanical microswitch for switching an electrical signal in particular a radio frequency signal, in particular in a GHz range, comprising a multi-level conductive path layer stack arranged on a substrate, wherein conductive paths of the multi-level conductive path layer stack arranged in different conductive levels are insulated from one another through electrically insulating layers and electrically connected with one another through via contacts, an electromechanical switch which is integrated in a recess of the multi-level conductive path layer stack and which includes a contact pivot, an opposite contact and at least one drive electrode for the contact pivot, wherein the contact pivot, the opposite contact and the at least one drive electrode respectively form a portion of a conductive level of the multi-level layer stack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Applicant: IHP GMBH
    Inventors: Mehmet Kaynak, Mario Birkholz, Bernd Tillack, Karl-Ernst Ehwald, René Scholz