Microphone and manufacture thereof
AssigneesSemiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation, Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation
InventorHongjun Yu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A microphone and its manufacturing method, relating to semiconductor techniques. The microphone comprises a substrate with a back through-hole going through the substrate; a first electrode layer on the substrate covering the back through-hole; a back plate on the substrate, wherein the back plate and the first electrode layer form a cavity, and the first electrode layer comprises a gap connecting the back through-hole and the cavity; and a second electrode layer in the cavity and on a bottom surface of the back plate. In this inventive concept, the gap in the first electrode layer increases the sensitivity of the first electrode layer and thus improves the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).
Claims26
A microphone, comprising:
- a substrate with a back through-hole going through the substrate;
- a first electrode layer overlapping a face of the substrate, covering the back through-hole, and comprising a support component, a protrusion, and a gap, wherein the support component is electrically conductive and directly contacts the substrate, wherein the protrusion protrudes toward the substrate, is spaced from the substrate, and is electrically connected to the support component, and wherein the gap is positioned between the support component and the protrusion;
- a back plate on the substrate, wherein the back plate and the first electrode layer form a cavity, and wherein the gap connects the back through-hole and the cavity;
- and
- a second electrode layer in the cavity and on a bottom surface of the back plate.
A microphone, comprising:
- a substrate with a back through-hole going through the substrate;
- a first electrode layer positioned on the substrate, covering the back through-hole, and comprising a support component, wherein the support component is electrically conductive, protrudes from an electrically conductive face of the first electrode toward the substrate, and directly contacts a semiconductor surface of the substrate;
- a back plate directly contacting each of the first electrode and the semiconductor surface of the substrate, wherein the back plate and the first electrode layer form a cavity;
- and
- a second electrode layer in the cavity and on a bottom surface of the back plate.
A microphone manufacturing method, comprising:
- providing a semiconductor structure comprising a substrate, a first sacrificial layer on the substrate, and a first electrode layer on the first sacrificial layer, wherein the first electrode layer has a gap exposing a first portion of the first sacrificial layer, and wherein two sides of a second portion of the first sacrificial layer respectively directly contact two electrically conductive sides of the first electrode layer;
- forming a second sacrificial layer on the first electrode layer;
- forming a second electrode layer on the second sacrificial layer;
- forming a back plate on the substrate covering the second sacrificial layer and the second electrode layer, wherein a material of the back plate is different from a material of the first sacrificial layer;
- forming a back through-hole in the substrate by etching a back side of the substrate, with the back through-hole exposing a portion of a bottom surface of the first sacrificial layer;
- and
- forming a cavity by removing the first portion of the first sacrificial layer and the second sacrificial layer, with the gap connecting the back through-hole and the cavity, wherein the second portion of the first sacrificial layer is retained after the first portion of the first sacrificial layer has been removed.
A microphone manufacturing method, comprising:
- providing a semiconductor structure comprising a substrate, a first sacrificial layer on the substrate, and a first electrode layer on the first sacrificial layer;
- forming a second sacrificial layer on the first electrode layer;
- etching the second sacrificial layer and the first sacrificial layer to expose a side surface of the first electrode layer;
- forming a second electrode layer on the second sacrificial layer;
- forming a back plate on the substrate covering the second sacrificial layer and the second electrode layer, with an inner side surface of the back plate directly contacting the side surface of the first electrode layer, wherein the side surface of the first electrode layer is not parallel to a first face of the substrate, and wherein an outer side surface of the back plate is not parallel to the first face of the substrate and is positioned between the side surface of the first electrode layer and a second face of the substrate in a direction parallel to the first face of the substrate;
- forming a back through-hole by etching a back side of the substrate, with the back through-hole exposing a portion of a bottom surface of the first sacrificial layer;
- and
- forming a cavity by removing a portion of the first sacrificial layer and the second sacrificial layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.