Abstract:
It is intended to provide a membrane structure element that can be easily manufactured, has an excellent insulating property and high quality; and a method for manufacturing the membrane structure element. The manufacturing method is for manufacturing a membrane structure element including a membrane formed of a silicon oxide film and a substrate which supports the membrane in a hollow state by supporting a part of a periphery of the membrane. The method includes: a film formation step of forming a heat-shrinkable silicon oxide film 13 on a surface of a silicon substrate 2 by plasma CVD method; a heat treatment step of performing a heat treatment to cause the thermal shrinkage of the silicon oxide film 13 formed on the substrate 1; and a removal step of removing a part of the substrate 2 in such a manner that a membrane-corresponding part of the silicon oxide film 13 is supported as a membrane in a hollow state with respect to the substrate 2 to form a recessed part 4.
Abstract:
It is intended to provide a membrane structure element that can be easily manufactured, has an excellent insulating property and high quality; and a method for manufacturing the membrane structure element. The manufacturing method is for manufacturing a membrane structure element including a membrane formed of a silicon oxide film and a substrate which supports the membrane in a hollow state by supporting a part of a periphery of the membrane. The method includes: a film formation step of forming a heat-shrinkable silicon oxide film 13 on a surface of a silicon substrate 2 by plasma CVD method; a heat treatment step of performing a heat treatment to cause the thermal shrinkage of the silicon oxide film 13 formed on the substrate 1; and a removal step of removing a part of the substrate 2 in such a manner that a membrane-corresponding part of the silicon oxide film 13 is supported as a membrane in a hollow state with respect to the substrate 2 to form a recessed part 4.
Abstract:
The present invention provides a method for controlling the average stress and the strain gradient in structural silicon germanium layers as used in micromachined devices. The method comprises depositing a single silicon germanium layer on a substrate and annealing a predetermined part of the deposited silicon germanium layer, whereby the process parameters of the depositing step and/or the annealing step are selected such that a predetermined average stress and a predetermined strain gradient are obtained in the predetermined part of the silicon germanium layer. Preferably a plasma assisted deposition technique is used for depositing the silicon germanium layer, and a pulsed excimer laser is used for local annealing, with a limited thermal penetration depth. The present invention provides a method for forming structural silicon germanium layers for surface micromachined structures at temperatures substantially below 400°C, which offers for example the possibility of post-processing micromachined structures on top of a substrate comprising electronic circuitry such as CMOS circuitry, without affecting the functionality and reliability of the electronic circuitry. More in particular, the present invention provides a method for forming structural silicon germanium layers at temperatures not exceeding 210°C, which allows the integration of silicon germanium based micromachined structures on substrates such as polymer films.
Abstract:
A micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) device and an electronic device are fabricated on a common substrate by fabricating the electronic device comprising a plurality of electronic components on the common substrate, depositing a thermally stable interconnect layer on the electronic device, encapsulating the interconnected electronic device with a protective layer, forming a sacrificial layer over the protective layer, opening holes in the sacrificial layer and the protective layer to allow the connection of the MEM device to the electronic device, fabricating the MEM device by depositing and patterning at least one layer of amorphous silicon, and removing at least a portion of the sacrificial layer. In this way, the MEM device can be fabricated after the electronic device on the same substrate.
Abstract:
A method of forming an electromechanical transducer device (200) comprises forming (500) on a fixed structure (210) a movable structure (203) and an actuating structure of the electromechanical transducer device, wherein the movable structure (203) is arranged in operation of the electromechanical transducer device (200) to be movable in relation to the fixed structure in response to actuation of the actuating structure. The method further comprises providing (504) a stress trimming layer (216) on at least part of the movable structure (203), after providing the stress trimming layer (216), releasing (506) the movable structure (203) from the fixed structure (210) to provide a released electromechanical transducer device (200), and after releasing the movable structure (203), changing (508) stress in the stress trimming layer of the released electromechanical transducer device such that the movable structure (203) is deflected a predetermined amount relative to the fixed structure (210) when the electromechanical transducer device (200) is in an off state.
Abstract:
A method of providing microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) that are compatible with silicon CMOS electronics is provided. The method providing for processes and manufacturing sequences limiting the maximum exposure of an integrated circuit upon which the MEMS is manufactured to below 35O°C, and potentially to below 25O°C, thereby allowing direct manufacturing of the MEMS devices onto electronics, such as Si CMOS circuits. The method further providing for the provisioning of MEMS devices with multiple non-conductive structural layers such as silicon carbide separated with small lateral gaps. Such silicon carbide structures offering enhanced material properties, increased environmental and chemical resilience whilst also allowing novel designs to be implemented taking advantage of the non-conductive material of the structural layer. The use of silicon carbide being beneficial within the formation of MEMS elements such as motors, gears, rotors, translation drives, etc where increased hardness reduces wear of such elements during operation.
Abstract:
A thin−film structure manufactured by a semiconductor processing technique and a method for manufacturing the same, especially a thin−film structure constituting a semiconductor acceleration sensor and a method for manufacturing the same, wherein the stress in a thin−film body can be simply controlled, and the thickness of the thin−film body can be easily increased. A thin−film body (8) constituting each of a mass body (3), a beam (7), and a fixed electrode (5) of a semiconductor acceleration sensor is composed of doped polysilicon thin films (33, 35) formed by repeating the step of forming a polysilicon film while doping the film with, e.g., phosphorus as impurity.