Method of preparing silicon-on-insulator substrates particularly suited for microwave applications
AssigneeHughes Electronics Corporation
InventorsHéctor J. De Los Santos, Yu-Hua Kao Lin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of directly and indirectly bonding a microwave substrate 14 and a silicon substrate 12 is described. The method for directly bonding a silicon substrate includes the steps of cleaning the microwave substrate and cleaning the silicon substrate. Then, the microwave substrate and the silicon substrate are stacked together. The stack is placed in a furnace. The temperature of the furnace is increased to a predetermined temperature at a predetermined rate. The temperature of the furnace is reduced at a second predetermined rate. The method of indirectly bonding includes sputtering a silicon dioxide layer on the microwave substrate and silicon substrate prior to placing them together.
Claims15
A method of bonding a microwave substrate to a silicon substrate comprises the steps of:
- cleaning the microwave substrate;
- cleaning the silicon substrate;
- stacking the microwave substrate and the silicon substrate together to form a stack;
- placing the stack in a furnace;
- increasing the temperature of the furnace to about 1200 degrees C. with the stack therein to a predetermined temperature at a first predetermined rate of about 1 degree C. per minute;
- and
- decreasing the temperature of the furnace with the stack therein to at a second predetermined rate of about 1 degree C. per minute.
A method of forming a microwave circuit assembly comprising:
- bonding a silicon substrate to a microwave substrate to form an assembly by heat-treating the silicon substrate and the microwave substrate, wherein heat treating comprises;
- stacking the microwave substrate and the silicon substrate together to form a stack;
- placing the stack in a furnace;
- increasing the temperature of the furnace to about 1200 degrees C. with the stack therein to a predetermined temperature at a first predetermined rate of about 1 degree C. per minute;
- and
- decreasing the temperature of the furnace with the stack therein to at a second predetermined rate of about 1 degree C. per minute;
- and
- micromachining the assembly.
A method of bonding an alumina substrate to a silicon substrate comprises the steps of:
- cleaning the alumina substrate;
- cleaning the silicon substrate;
- stacking the alumina substrate and the silicon substrate together to form a stack;
- placing the stack in a furnace;
- increasing the temperature of the furnace to about 1200 degrees C. with the stack therein to about 1200 degrees C. at a predetermined rate of about 1 degree C. per minute;
- and
- decreasing the temperature of the furnace with the stack therein to a second predetermined rate of about 1 degree C. per minute.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.