Method of manufacturing microstructures and also microstructure
First Claim
1. A microstructure, comprising at least a first and a second wafer which are bonded together, wherein at least one hollow cavity is present in at least one of the wafers and is covered over by the other wafer for formation of a closed hollow cavitywherein an inner pressure of less that 0.1 mbar prevails in the hollow cavity, andwherein surfaces of the wafers that are bonded together are substantially clean surfaces that consist essentially only of the material of the respective wafer and are substantially free of H2 O, H2 and O2.
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing microstructures in which a hollow cavity is formed in a first wafer, in particular, a silicon wafer, and the hollow cavity is, covered over by a second wafer, which is in particular, also a silicon wafer, by a wafer bonding process in vacuum for the formation of an enclosed hollow cavity, wherein the wafer bonding is carried out in an ultra-high vacuum in order to achieve the smallest possible internal pressure in the hollow cavity of less than 0.1 mbar. The surfaces of the wafers which are to be brought into contact with one another are treated by a surface cleaning process in order to produce at least substantially pure surfaces, i.e. surfaces which consist substantially only of the material of the respective wafer and which are at least substantially free of H2 O, H2 and O2. A microstructure is also claimed.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A microstructure, comprising at least a first and a second wafer which are bonded together, wherein at least one hollow cavity is present in at least one of the wafers and is covered over by the other wafer for formation of a closed hollow cavity
wherein an inner pressure of less that 0.1 mbar prevails in the hollow cavity, and wherein surfaces of the wafers that are bonded together are substantially clean surfaces that consist essentially only of the material of the respective wafer and are substantially free of H2 O, H2 and O2.
- 4. A method of manufacturing microstructures in which a hollow cavity is formed in a silicon wafer and is covered with a second wafer by a wafer bonding process in vacuum to form an enclosed hollow cavity, wherein surfaces of the wafers that are to be brought into contact with one another are treated by a surface cleaning process in order to produce substantially clean surfaces that consist essentially only of the material of the respective wafer and that are substantially free of H2 O, H2 and O2, and wherein the wafer bonding is carried out in ultra-high vacuum for the purpose of achieving the smallest possible inner pressure in the hollow cavity of less than 0.1 mbar.
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6. A method of manufacturing microstructures in which a hollow cavity is formed in a first wafer that is covered with a second wafer by a wafer bonding process in vacuum to form an enclosed hollow cavity,
wherein surfaces of the wafers that are to be brought into contact with one another are treated by a surface cleaning process in order to produce substantially clean surfaces that consist essentially only of the material of the respective wafer and that are substantially free of H2 O, H2 and O2, and wherein the wafer bonding is carried out in ultra-high vacuum for the purpose of achieving the smallest possible inner pressure in the hollow cavity of less than 0.1 mbar.
Specification