Microspeakers can overheat and break if not monitored and regulated. This monitoringis usually done by adding a pilot tone that introduces energy to the signal.A problem with this approach is the slow update rate of the temperature estimate.This in combination with a fast temperature rise could result in an audible regulationof the input. By simulating the voice coil temperature these problems couldbe mitigated. In this thesis, two existing grey box models and one novel black boxmodel are estimated for different speakers and evaluated using different signals.The results are promising and indicate that all models can estimate the voice coiltemperature with a mean error below one degree. The tests show that a correctinitialization of the model is crucial. Therefore the suggestion to Cirrus Logic,who hosted this thesis project, is to combine a feedforward model with eithertemperature sensor data from the mobile device or a pilot tone. / Mikrohögtalare kan överhettas och gå sönder ifall temperaturen inte övervakasoch regleras vid behov. Denna övervakning sker med hjälp av en pilotton somtillför energi till högtalarens insignal. Ett problem med denna lösning är att övervakningenär relativt långsam. Detta gör att en snabb temperaturökning kan geen oönskad hörbar reglering av insignalen. Genom att modellera spolens temperaturkan detta problem hanteras. I detta examensarbete tas två fysikaliska modelleroch en konfektionsmodell fram och testas på olika högtalare och signaler.Resultaten är lovande och visar att alla modeller kan skatta spoltemperaturenmed ett medelfel under en grad. Utvärderingen visar att initiering av modellensstarttemperatur är viktig. Därför är förslaget till Cirrus Logic att kombinera en simuleringsmodellsom initieras med antingen temperatursensordata från mobileneller med hjälp av en pilotton.

A piezoelectric microspeaker device that could be used in a variety of acoustic applications was designed and fabricated using a thin film ZnO layer that was reactively DC sputtered onto a single crystalline n-type silicon substrate. When tested the microspeaker did not produce sound due to complications in the etching process, the thickness of the diaphragms, and clamping effects. Instead, a characterization approach was taken and the structural, optical, electrical, and piezoelectric properties of the ZnO were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy were utilized to discover the ZnO’s structural properties. Using the XRD and SEM, the as-sputtered ZnO films were found to have highly c-axis oriented columnar crystals. Optical properties were determined from the reflectance spectrums obtained from a Filmetrics F20 reflectometer and were used to determine the film thickness, the optical constants, and the optical band gap of the ZnO thin films. Using a four-point probe, the as-sputtered ZnO films were found to be highly resistive and insulative, mainly due to voided growth boundaries between the crystals. To improve electrical conductivity and piezoelectric response, ZnO samples were annealed at varying temperatures in a nitrogen environment. The annealing process successfully increased the electrical conductivity and piezoelectric properties of the films. The local piezoelectric properties of the ZnO were discovered with an Asylum MFP-3D and a piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) technique called DART-PFM. The ZnO films that were sputtered with 70 watts and an argon to oxygen gas ratio of 2:1 were found to have the highest d33 piezoelectric coefficients. The ZnO sample that was annealed at 600°C for 30 minutes had the highest overall d33 value of 4.0 pm/V, which means that the 600°C annealed ZnO films would have the best chance of making a functional microspeaker.

Ce mémoire présente la conception, la réalisation et la caractérisation d'un micro-haut-parleur en silicium destiné à des applications électroniques portables, telles que les tablettes et les téléphones cellulaires. L'objectif est d'évaluer le potentiel des microtechnologies pour améliorer la qualité sonore et le rendement électroacoustique, qui sont deux points faibles majeurs des micro-haut-parleurs actuels.En analysant les paramètres dont dépendent le rendement et la qualité sonore, nous montrons que le silicium monocristallin présente des propriétés particulièrement intéressantes pour réaliser la surface émissive et la suspension du transducteur. Une microstructure de la partie mobile est proposée pour satisfaire la double exigence d'une surface émissive très rigide, nécessaire à la qualité sonore, et d'une masse très faible, permettant d'augmenter le rendement. Les aimants et la bobine, qui constituent le moteur électrodynamique, sont également optimisés en utilisant conjointement des modèles analytiques et à éléments finis. La microfabrication du transducteur MEMS est étudiée, étape par étape. Elle repose sur l'utilisation d'un substrat SOI (silicium sur isolant), qui sert de base à la structuration des différents composants, et sur lequel sont rapportés des aimants massifs. La caractérisation électroacoustique des échantillons réalisés montre une très bonne qualité de reproduction sonore. Un niveau sonore de 80 dB à 10 cm est obtenu pour une puissance électrique de 0,5 W, ce qui place le rendement au niveau des micro-haut-parleurs du marché. Ces travaux montrent en outre que les technologies MEMS offrent des possibilités d'augmenter très largement le rendement. / This research work presents the conception, the development, and the characterization of a silicon-based microspeaker for portable electronic device applications, such as tablets and cellular phones. The objective is to investigate the potential of microsystem technologies with the goal of improving the sound quality and the electroacoustic efficiency, which are two main drawbacks of the today’s microspeakers.By analyzing various parameters which influence the efficiency and the sound quality, we show that the monocrystalline silicon has very interesting mechanical properties which make it the proper choice to be deployed for the membrane as well as the suspension of the transducer.A stiffening structure is proposed to satisfy both the rigidity and the lightness of the membrane, for the sake of sound quality and high efficiency respectively. The magnets and the coil, which compose the electromagnetic motor of the device, are also optimized with the help of analytical and finite element models.Afterwards, the microfabrication of the MEMS microspeaker is studied step by step. It is indeed based on a SOI (silicon on insulator) substrate which makes possible the micromachining of the different parts and the assembly of bulk permanent magnets. The electroacoustic characterization of the MEMS microspeaker samples shows a very high sound quality. A sound pressure level of 80 dB at 10 cm is measured for an electrical power of 0.5 W. This classifies the MEMS microspeaker’s efficiency among that of today’s non-MEMS microspeakers.This work presents, moreover, the possibility of increasing even more the efficiency thanks to the MEMS technology.

The resonance frequency of electrostatically actuated micromachined beams can be tuned substantially by applying a DC voltage bias, first by decreasing the frequency until the onset of pull-in and then by increasing it by the virtue of contact. With the objective of modeling and designing the micromechanical structures after pull-in, a semi-analytical method was developed to determine the length of the contact between the beam and the substrate. The semi-analytical method which is validated on the straight beams is extended for the folded beam structures. This method provides a tool to the microsystem designer to quickly evaluate the deformed configuration of the folded beams after pull-in without the time-intensive contact analysis. This tool is used to design the micro‐speaker elements suitable for emitting low frequency sounds. Multiple instabilities after the pull-in were numerically observed and it was shown that the resonant frequency of an L-shaped beam can be varied in different frequency bands. The speaker element can emit any frequency in a given range, as the resonant frequency of the beam structures can be tuned both before and after pull-in. Operating the speaker element at resonance maximizes the efficiency of the speaker design because the amplitude of vibration is maximum at the resonance frequency. Furthermore, the interplay between the torsional and bending loads is used to minimize the out-of-plane deflection under self weight. A selection criterion is employed to choose a beam structure with optimum stiffness and natural frequency. Beam-based micro-speaker element designs with single and multi-layered suspended structures are proposed. Practical considerations such as volume displacement, mode shapes and dynamic coupling are discussed, on the basis of which design guidelines for a speaker element are proposed. Squeeze film effects and nonlinearity due to the midplane stretching is integrated into the transient analysis model to analyze the effect on the stroke of beam operating at resonance. A comparison between various speaker elements is presented.