High frequency oscillator comprising cointegrated thin film resonator and active device

• US 5,075,641 A
• Filed: 12/04/1990
• Issued: 12/24/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Iowa State University Research Foundation Incorporated (Iowa State University)
• Original Assignee: Iowa State University Research Foundation Incorporated (Iowa State University)
• Inventors: Weber, Robert J., Burns, Stanley G., Braymen, Steve D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Grimm, Siegfried H.
• Application Number:
  US07/622,251
• Time in Patent Office: 385 Days
• Field of Search: 331/108 C, 331/108 D, 331/116 R, 331/116 FE, 331/158, 331/107 A, 310/314, 310/319, 310/324, 310/325, 357/4, 357/40, 357/51
• US Class Current: 331/108.00C
• CPC Class Codes: H03B 5/36 active element in amplifier being semiconductor device H03B5/323, H03B5/326 , H03B5/38 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 39/00 Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive element covered by groups H10N30/00 – H10N35/00

Abstract

A cointegrated high frequency oscillator including a thin film resonator and active devices formed on the same semiconductor substrate and by a process which is compatible with formation of both the thin film resonator and the active devices. The processes utilized in formation of the thin film resonator are adapted to microelectronic processing techniques such that the steps of formation of the active devices and the thin film resonator can be intermixed to the degree necessary to allow, for example, the metallization layers to serve as elements both of the active devices and the thin film resonator.

Claims

1. A cointegrated oscillator comprising, in combination:

a semiconductor substrate having opposed first and second substantially planar surfaces,

dopant regions associated with the first surface of the substrate and patterned to form at least one active device interconnectable to serve as an amplifier,

a thin film resonator supported on the first surface of the substrate closely adjacent the active device, the thin film resonator having a lower conductive electrode deposited directly on the semiconductor substrate, and

metallization interconnecting the active device and the thin film resonator in such a way that the thin film resonator is connected to serve as a frequency selective element for the oscillator, the interconnecting metallization also serving as one of the thin film resonator electrodes.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the thin film resonator includes a resonating membrane, and an aperture formed in the second surface of the substrate and penetrating to the resonating membrane so as to free said resonating membrane for oscillation.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the thin film resonator is a stacked crystal filter having a first port comprising the lower conductive electrode, a first piezoelectric film, and an intermediate electrode, and a second port comprising the intermediate electrode, a second piezoelectric film, and an upper electrode.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein the stacked crystal filter is connected in a feedback path of the amplifier to serve as the frequency selective element of the cointegrated oscillator

5. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the aperture is an etched aperture formed in a selective etching process to which the thin film resonator and active device are subjected.

6. A cointegrated high frequency oscillator having a thin film resonator connected to an amplifier as the frequency selective element of the oscillator, and comprising, in combination:

a semiconductor substrate having a pair of opposed generally planar parallel surfaces,

active devices comprising the amplifier formed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, the active devices having patterned regions of dopant impurities disposed to function as said active devices,

a first metallization layer forming a conductive pattern on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate interconnected to the active devices, the conductive pattern also having an electrode portion serving as an electrode of the thin film resonator,

a thin oriented piezoelectric film deposited on the electrode portion of the conductive pattern to serve as a piezoelectric element of the thin film resonator,

a second metallization layer deposited over the piezoelectric film for serving as a second electrode of the thin film resonator, the second metallization layer being interconnected to the active device to cause the amplifier and the thin film resonator to function in circuit interrelationship as a high frequency oscillator, and

the thin film resonator and active devices being juxtaposed on the semiconductor substrate so that all of the interconnections between the thin film resonator and the active devices are accomplished by integrated metallization layers.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 6 wherein the thin film resonator further includes a an aperture etched in the semiconductor substrate penetrating the second surface of the substrate and reaching to the first metallization layer below said electrode portion, the aperture in the substrate serving to free the thin film resonator for vibration.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 7 further including a second piezoelectric film deposited on the second metallization layer, and a third metallization layer deposited over the second piezoelectric film, and serving as a third electrode in a stacked crystal filter comprising said first through third metallization layers and said first and second piezoelectric films, whereby the thin film resonator is configured as a stacked crystal filter.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein the aperture is an etched aperture formed by a selective etching process to which the active devices and thin film resonator are resistant.

10. The combination as set forth in claim 8 in which the stacked crystal filter is connected in the feedback path of the amplifier.

11. An application-specific cointegrated circuit formed on a semiconductor substrate having opposed first and second substantially planar surfaces for providing cointegrated high frequency oscillators comprising, in combination:

a plurality of active devices formed on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate,

a plurality of thin film resonators each having at least a lower conductive layer serving as a lower electrode, a thin oriented piezoelectric film deposited on the lower electrode to serve as a piezoelectric element, and an upper conductive layer deposited on the piezoelectric film serving as an upper electrode,

a plurality of ancillary devices positioned closely adjacent the plurality of active devices and the plurality of thin film resonators, and

an upper conductive layer also extending across the substrate for selectively interconnecting the closely integrated and juxtaposed plurality of active devices, thin film resonators, and ancillary devices to provide the cointegrated high frequency oscillators.

12. The combination as set forth in claim 11 wherein the active devices, the thin film resonators and the ancillary devices include contact pads, and the upper conductive layer is adapted to establish selective interconnection between the contact pads for configuring the cointegrated high frequency oscillator.

13. The combination as set forth in claim 11 wherein the thin film resonators comprise stacked crystal filters having an intermediate electrode between the lower and upper electrodes, and a pair of piezoelectric films deposited intermediate the electrodes.

14. The combination as set forth in claim 11 including apertures in the substrate below the thin film resonators for freeing the resonators for vibration.

15. A process for forming a cointegrated oscillator including active devices comprising an amplifier and a thin film resonator interconnected with the amplifier to serve as the feedback element thereof, the process comprising the steps of:

providing a planar semiconductor substrate having opposed generally planar parallel first and second surfaces,

forming the active devices on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate by depositing dopant impurities in patterned areas to function as respective doped regions of the active devices,

depositing a first metallization layer on the first surface in electrical contact with at least some of the active regions of the active devices, the first metallization extending to a juxtaposed portion of the first surface of the substrate and having an area for serving as a resonating portion of a thin film resonator,

depositing a thin oriented film of pure deielectric material over the resonating portion of the first metallization layer to serve as a dielectric element of the thin film resonator,

depositing a second metallization layer over the dielectric film to serve as a second electrode of the think film resonator, and

etching an aperture in the second surface of the semiconductor substrate to remove an area of the substrate from below the resonating portion of the thin film resonator, the step of etching employing a selective etching solution for removing the substrate material in said area while leaving the active devices and thin film resonator substantially unaffected by the etching.

16. The process as set forth in claim 15 wherein the step of forming the active devices comprises forming at least one trench isolated buried junction transistor for high frequency operation in the cointegrated oscillator.

17. The process as set forth in claim 15 further including the step of sputtering a second thin oriented film of pure dielectric material over the second metallization layer, depositing a third metallization layer over the second dielectric film, and thereby to form a stacked crystal filter.

18. The process as set forth in claim 15 wherein the step of etching comprises providing an etchant solution including a solution of hydrazine, quinoxaline and water, and conditioning said etching solution by treating said solution with silicon and aging said treated solution, thereby rendering said preconditioned etching solution selective to silicon, the semiconductor substrate comprising a silicon substrate.

19. The process as set forth in claim 15 wherein the step of depositing a thin oriented film comprises sputtering said thin oriented film and utilizing a dielectric liftoff process to pattern the sputtered film

20. The process as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of depositing a thin oriented film comprises sputtering said thin oriented film and utilizing a dielectric lift off process to pattern the sputtered film.

21. The combination as set forth in claim 18 further including the step of utilizing the first metallization layer as an etchant stop for the selective etching step