Semiconductor pressure transducer or other product employing layers of single crystal silicon

• US 4,406,992 A
• Filed: 04/20/1981
• Issued: 09/27/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/1981
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kulite Semiconductor Products Inc
• Original Assignee: Kulite Semiconductor Products Inc
• Inventors: Kurtz, Anthony D., Nunn, Timothy A., Mallon, Joseph R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Albritton, C. L.
• Application Number:
  US06/255,461
• Time in Patent Office: 890 Days
• Field of Search: 338/2, 338/4, 338/5, 357/26, 357/55
• US Class Current: 338/2
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/2293 of the semi-conductor type semi-conductor devices controllable by variations of applied mechanical force H01L29/84
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0055 bonded on a diaphragm

Abstract

A monocrystalline silicon substrate has formed on a surface a grating pattern manifested by a series of parallel grooves, a layer of dielectric is thermally grown on said surface to replicate said pattern on an opposite surface of said dielectric and a layer of silicon deposited on said opposite surface of said dielectric is single crystal silicon determined by said grating. The structure formed enables the deposited single crystal layer to be selectively treated to provide at least one piezoresistive sensing element to thereby provide a transducer having both the force collector or substrate and the sensing elements of single crystal silicon and dielectrically isolated by means of said dielectric layer.

Claims

1. A semiconductor transducer comprising:

a substrate layer of single crystal silicon, having a grating pattern disposed upon a surface thereof,

an intermediate dielectric layer of silicon dioxide directly formed on a surface of said substrate layer with said dielectric layer having said grating pattern disposed upon the surface thereof, and

at least one single crystal silicon sensor directly grown on said intermediate layer according to said grating pattern.

3. The semiconductor transducer according to claim 1 wherein said grating pattern is a series of parallel grooves forming a line grating on said surface.

10. The semiconductor transducer according to claim 1 wherein said grating pattern is a sub-micron line pattern having sub-micron line widths and sub-micron spacings between lines.

2. A semiconductor transducer product, comprising:

a first bottom layer of single crystal silicon having a grating pattern disposed on a surface thereof,

a second middle layer of a dielectric formed on a surface of said first layer and deposited on said grating pattern with a grating pattern formed on said middle layer,

a third top layer of single crystal silicon formed on a surface of said second layer and deposited on said grating pattern manifesting a single crystal silicon piezoresistive sensor.

4. The semiconductor product according to claim 2 wherein said dielectric layer is silicon dioxide.

5. The semiconductor product according to claim 2 wherein said grating pattern is a series of parallel grooves forming a line grating on said surface.

6. A semiconductor transducer comprising:

a substrate layer of single crystal silicon having formed on a top surface a grating pattern,

a dielectric layer of silicon dioxide grown on said top surface to cover the same to provide a corresponding dielectric surface having said grating pattern, and

at least one single crystal silicon sensor directly contacting said dielectric layer within said grating location.

7. The semiconductor transducer according to claim 6 wherein said grating pattern is a series of parallel grooves forming a line grating.

8. The semiconductor transducer according to claim 7 wherein said grating is formed by a graphoepitaxy technique.

9. The semiconductor transducer according to claim 8 wherein said grating is formed by a photolithographic technique.

11. The semiconductor transducer according to claim 7, wherein said grating pattern is a sub-micron line pattern, having groove widths of sub-micron values with the spacings between said grooves of sub-micron values.