Method of fabrication of ai/ge bonding in a wafer packaging environment and a product produced therefrom
First Claim
1. A wafer structure comprising:
- a first substrate including at least one MEMS feature, the first substrate including at least one patterned substantially germanium layer; and
a second substrate, the second substrate including at least one patterned substantially aluminum layer and one electrical contact;
wherein the at least one patterned substantially germanium layer is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum layer to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of bonding of germanium to aluminum between two substrates to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact is disclosed. An aluminum-germanium bond has the following unique combination of attributes: (1) it can form a hermetic seal; (2) it can be used to create an electrically conductive path between two substrates; (3) it can be patterned so that this conduction path is localized; (4) the bond can be made with the aluminum that is available as standard foundry CMOS process. This has the significant advantage of allowing for wafer-level bonding or packaging without the addition of any additional process layers to the CMOS wafer.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A wafer structure comprising:
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a first substrate including at least one MEMS feature, the first substrate including at least one patterned substantially germanium layer; and
a second substrate, the second substrate including at least one patterned substantially aluminum layer and one electrical contact;
wherein the at least one patterned substantially germanium layer is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum layer to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A wafer structure comprising:
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a first substrate including at least one MEMS feature, the first substrate including at least one patterned substantially germanium layer and at least one via for electric feed-through; and
a second substrate, the second substrate including at least one patterned substantially aluminum layer and one electrical contact;
wherein the at least one patterned substantially germanium layer with the at least one via is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A wafer structure comprising:
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a first substrate including at least one MEMS feature, the first substrate including at least one patterned substantially germanium layer deposited over patterned etched standoff with precise height; and
a second substrate, the second substrate including at least one patterned substantially aluminum layer and one electrical contact;
wherein the at least one patterned substantially germanium layer over the precise standoffs is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact, wherein a specific and precise gap is created and maintained between the first and second substrates.
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24. A method for providing a wafer structure comprising the steps of:
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providing a first substrate including at least one MEMS feature, the first substrate including at least one patterned substantially germanium layer; and
providing a second substrate, the second substrate including at least one patterned substantially aluminum layer and one electrical contact;
wherein the at least one patterned substantially germanium layer is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification