Process for forming and acoustically connecting structures on a substrate
First Claim
1. A process, comprising:
- reducing the thickness of a back side of a substrate in an area where vents are to be formed;
releasing a mesh from a top side of the substrate; and
forming vent openings that connect the released mesh and the area of reduced thickness.
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Abstract
The present invention describes a processes that builds an acoustic cavity, a chamber, and vent openings for acoustically connecting the chamber with the acoustic cavity. The dry etch processes may include reactive ion etches, which include traditional parallel plate RIE dry etch processes, advanced deep and inductively coupled plasma RIE processes. Three embodiments for connecting the chamber to the cavity from the top side of the substrate, e.g. by using pilot openings formed using at least a portion of the mesh as an etch mask, by forming the vent openings using at least a portion of the mesh as an etch mask, or by having the chamber intersect the vent openings as the chamber is being formed, illustrate how the disclosed process may be modified. By forming the cavity on the back side of the substrate, the depth of the vent holes is decreased. Additionally, using at least a portion of the micro-machined mesh as an etch mask for the vent holes makes the process self-aligning.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A process, comprising:
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reducing the thickness of a back side of a substrate in an area where vents are to be formed;
releasing a mesh from a top side of the substrate; and
forming vent openings that connect the released mesh and the area of reduced thickness. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A process of forming and connecting structures on a substrate, comprising:
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forming an acoustic cavity from the back side of a substrate;
forming a chamber under a micro-machined mesh from the top side of the substrate; and
acoustically connecting the chamber with the acoustic cavity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A process, comprising:
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forming a chamber under a micro-machined mesh; and
substantially simultaneously with the formation of said chamber, connecting said chamber a with a cavity formed on the back side of a substrate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A process of acoustically connecting a chamber formed under a micro-machined mesh with a cavity formed on the back side of a substrate, comprising:
etching from the top side of the substrate to connect the chamber with the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
Specification