Wafer encapsulated microelectromechanical structure and method of manufacturing same
AssigneeSiTime Corporation
InventorsAaron Partridge, Markus Lutz, Pavan Gupta
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present inventions relate to devices, systems and/or methods of encapsulating and fabricating electromechanical structures or elements, for example, accelerometer, gyroscope or other transducer (for example, pressure sensor, strain sensor, tactile sensor, magnetic sensor and/or temperature sensor), filter or resonator. The fabricating or manufacturing microelectromechanical systems of the present invention, and the systems manufactured thereby, employ wafer bonding encapsulation techniques.
Claims24
A method comprising:
- forming a cavity in a first substrate;
- depositing an intermediate layer on the first substrate after forming the cavity;
- securing a second substrate to the intermediate layer;
- forming a microelectromechanical structure in a portion of the second substrate;
- encapsulating the microelectromechanical structure;
- and
- wherein forming the microelectromechanical structure in the portion of the second substrate comprises forming the microelectromechanical structure in the portion of the second substrate before securing the second substrate to the intermediate layer.
A method comprising:
- forming a cavity in a first substrate;
- depositing an intermediate layer on the first substrate after forming the cavity;
- securing a second substrate to the intermediate layer;
- forming a microelectromechanical structure in a portion of the second substrate;
- encapsulating the microelectromechanical structure;
- and
- wherein depositing or growing an intermediate layer on the first substrate comprises depositing an intermediate layer on the first substrate.
A method comprising:
- forming a cavity in a first substrate;
- depositing an intermediate layer on the first substrate after forming the cavity;
- securing a second substrate to the intermediate layer;
- forming a microelectromechanical structure in a portion of the second substrate;
- securing a third substrate to the second substrate to encapsulate the microelectromechanical structure;
- and
- wherein forming the microelectromechanical structure in the portion of the second substrate comprises forming the microelectromechanical structure in the portion of the second substrate before securing the second substrate to the intermediate layer.
A method comprising:
- forming a cavity in a first substrate;
- depositing an intermediate layer on the first substrate after forming the cavity;
- securing a second substrate to the intermediate layer;
- forming a microelectromechanical structure in a portion of the second substrate;
- securing a third substrate to the second substrate to encapsulate the microelectromechanical structure;
- forming a contact wherein (i) a first portion of the contact is formed from a portion of the second substrate and (ii) a second portion of the contact is formed from a portion of the third substrate;
- wherein the first portion of the contact is a semiconductor material having a first conductivity, the third substrate is a semiconductor material having a second conductivity, and the second portion of the contact is a semiconductor material having the first conductivity;
- wherein the second portion of the contact is a polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon that is counterdoped to include the first conductivity;
- and
- further comprising forming a trench around at least a portion of the second portion of the contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.