Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080250785 | Micromechanical device with gold alloy contacts and method of manufacture - A MEMS switch device is made using a gold alloy as the switch contact material. The increased mechanical hardness of the alloy compared to the pure gold prevents the contacts of the switch from welding together. A scrubbing action which occurs when the switch closes may allow the contact surfaces to come to rest where their surfaces are complementary, thus resulting in higher contact area and low contact resistance, despite the higher sheet resistance of the gold alloy material relative to the pure gold material. | 10-16-2008 |
20080318349 | Wafer level hermetic bond using metal alloy - Systems and methods for forming an encapsulated MEMS device include a hermetic seal which seals an insulating gas between two substrates, one of which supports the MEMS device. The hermetic seal may be formed by heating at least two metal materials, in order to melt at least one of the metal materials. The first melted metal material flows into and forms an alloy with a second metal material, forming a hermetic seal which encapsulates the MEMS device. | 12-25-2008 |
20090001537 | Gettering material for encapsulated microdevices and method of manufacture - A method for providing improved gettering in a vacuum encapsulated microdevice is described. The method includes designing a getter alloy to more closely approximate the coefficient of thermal expansion of a substrate upon which the getter alloy is deposited. Such a getter alloy may have a weight percentage of less than about 8% iron (Fe) and greater than about 50% zirconium, with the balance being vanadium and titanium, which may better match the coefficient of thermal expansion of a silicon substrate. In one exemplary embodiment, the improved getter alloy is deposited on a silicon substrate prepared with a plurality of indentation features, which increase the surface area of the substrate exposed to the vacuum. Such a getter alloy is less likely to delaminate from the indented surface of the substrate material during heat-activated steps, such as activating the getter material and bonding a lid wafer to the device wafer supporting the microdevice. | 01-01-2009 |
20090053855 | Indented lid for encapsulated devices and method of manufacture - A method for providing improved gettering in a vacuum encapsulated device is described. The method includes forming a plurality of small indentation features in a device cavity formed in a lid wafer. The gettering material is then deposited over the indentation features. The indentation features increase the surface area of the getter material, thereby increasing the volume of gas that the getter material can absorb. This may improve the vacuum maintained within the vacuum cavity over the lifetime of the vacuum encapsulated device. | 02-26-2009 |
20100003772 | Wafer level hermetic bond using metal alloy with raised feature - Systems and methods for forming an encapsulated device include a hermetic seal which seals an insulating environment between two substrates, one of which supports the device. The hermetic seal is formed by an alloy of two metal layers, one deposited on a first substrate and the other deposited on the second substrate, along with a raised feature formed on the first or the second substrate. At least one of the metal layers may be deposited conformally over the raised feature. The raised feature penetrates the molten material of the first or the second metal layers during formation of the alloy, and produces a spectrum of stoichiometries for the formation of the desired alloy, as a function of the distance from the raised feature. At some distance from the raised feature, the proper ratio of the first metal to the second metal exists to form an alloy of the preferred stoichiometry. | 01-07-2010 |
20110250092 | Inlaid optical material and method of manufacture - An optical material is inlaid into a supporting substrate, with the top surface of the optical material flush with the top surface of the substrate, wherein the optical element is used to shape a beam of light travelling substantially parallel to the top surface of the substrate, but with the central axis of the beam below the top surface of the substrate. The optical elements serve to shape the beam of light for delivery to or from a microfabricated structure within the device. | 10-13-2011 |
20120068300 | Inductive getter activation for high vacuum packaging - An approach to activating a getter within a sealed vacuum cavity is disclosed. The approach uses inductive coupling from an external coil to a magnetically permeable material deposited in the vacuum cavity. The getter material is formed over this magnetically permeable material, and heated specifically thereby, leaving the rest of the device cavity and microdevice relatively cool. Using this inductive coupling technique, the getter material can be activated after encapsulation, and delicate structures and low temperature wafer bonding mechanisms may be used. | 03-22-2012 |
20120080762 | Plating process and apparatus for through wafer features - A method for forming through features in a substrate uses a seed layer deposited over a first substrate, and a second substrate bonded to the seed layer. The features may be formed in the first substrate, by plating a conductive filler material onto the seed layer. The first substrate and the second substrate may then be bonded to a third substrate, and the second substrate is removed, leaving through features and first substrate adhered to the third substrate. The through features may provide at least one of electrical access and motion to a plurality of devices formed on the third substrate, or may impart movement to a moveable feature on the first substrate, wherein the third substrate supports the first substrate after removal of the second substrate. | 04-05-2012 |
20120132522 | Deposition/bonding chamber for encapsulated microdevices and method of use - A method for depositing a getter for encapsulation in a device cavity containing a microdevice comprises depositing the getter material while the device wafer and lid wafer are enclosed in a bonding chamber. A plasma sputtering process may be used, wherein by applying a large negative voltage to the lid wafer, a plasma is formed in the low pressure environment within the bonding chamber. The plasma then sputters the getter material from a getter target, and this getter material is directly thereafter sealed within the device cavity of the microdevice, all within the deposition/bonding chamber. | 05-31-2012 |
20130199730 | Wafer bonding chamber with dissimilar wafer temperatures - A wafer bonding chamber is disclosed, which maintains two wafers to be bonded together at two substantially different temperatures. A lid wafer may be held at a higher temperature than a device wafer, as the device wafer may have delicate structures formed thereon, which cannot withstand higher temperatures. The lid wafer may have an adhesive bonding material formed thereon, which is melted or cured at the higher temperature. The temperature differential may be maintained by applying at least one of a heating mechanism and a cooling mechanism preferentially to one of the wafers to be bonded in the wafer bonding chamber. | 08-08-2013 |