THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORCE INPUT CONTROL DEVICE AND FABRICATION
First Claim
1. A method of fabricating a three-dimensional force input control device for sensing vector forces and converting them into electronic signals for processing on a single substrate, the method comprises the steps of:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having a side one and a side two;
fabricating stress-sensitive integrated circuit (IC) components and signal processing IC on the side one of the substrate;
fabricating closed trenches on the side two of the substrate, the trenches forming boundaries defining elastic elements, frame areas, and rigid islands, andremoving additional substrate material from the side two of the substrate in the frame areas leaving the dimension of the rigid islands protruding outward from the side two and larger than the remaining thickness dimension of the frame area minus a thickness of the elastic element,whereby the rigid island extends out from the substrate.
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Abstract
The present invention provides three-dimensional force input control devices for use in sensing vector forces and converting them into electronic signals for processing, and methods of fabricating three-dimensional force input control devices for sensing vector forces and converting them into electronic signals for processing. In some embodiments, methods of fabricating provide a semiconductor substrate having a side one and a side two; fabricate stress-sensitive IC components and signal processing IC on side one of the substrate; fabricate closed trenches on side two of the substrate, the trenches forming boundaries defining elastic elements, frame areas, and rigid islands, and remove additional substrate material from side two of the substrate in the frame area leaving the dimension of the rigid island protruding outward from side two.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of fabricating a three-dimensional force input control device for sensing vector forces and converting them into electronic signals for processing on a single substrate, the method comprises the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor substrate having a side one and a side two; fabricating stress-sensitive integrated circuit (IC) components and signal processing IC on the side one of the substrate; fabricating closed trenches on the side two of the substrate, the trenches forming boundaries defining elastic elements, frame areas, and rigid islands, and removing additional substrate material from the side two of the substrate in the frame areas leaving the dimension of the rigid islands protruding outward from the side two and larger than the remaining thickness dimension of the frame area minus a thickness of the elastic element, whereby the rigid island extends out from the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of fabricating a three-dimensional force input control device for sensing vector forces and converting them into electronic signals for processing, the method comprises the steps of:
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providing a semiconductor substrate having a side one and a side two; fabricating a plurality of sensor dice from the semiconductor substrate, comprising; fabricating at least one stress-sensitive integrated circuit (IC) component and signal processing integrated circuits on the side one of the substrate; fabricating, within each sensor die, a closed trench, an elastic element, frame area, and rigid island on the side two of the substrate; and removing, within each sensor die, additional substrate material from the side two of the substrate in the frame area leaving the dimension of the rigid island protruding outward from the side two and larger than the remaining thickness dimension of the frame area minus a thickness of the elastic element, whereby the rigid island extends out from the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification