System and method for bonding and sealing microfabricated wafers to form a single structure having a vacuum chamber therein
First Claim
1. A method, comprising steps of:
- providing a first wafer having palladium on a surface of said first wafer;
providing a second wafer having silicon on a surface of said second wafer;
providing a gasket on one of said wafers;
engaging said gasket with the other one of said wafers;
engaging said palladium with said silicon; and
increasing a temperature of said wafers in order to form a bond between said palladium and said silicon and in order to form a seal between said first wafer and said second wafer.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A palladium contact and a gasket are formed on a first wafer. The gasket and contact are simultaneously engaged with a silicon layer of a second wafer. The wafers are then heated to a temperature that both forms a bond between the palladium contact of the first wafer with the silicon layer of the second wafer and that fuses the gasket to the second wafer. Therefore, when the temperature is decreased, the palladium-silicon bond maintains the alignment of the two wafers with respect to one another, and the gasket hardens to form seal around a periphery of the two wafers. By placing the two wafers in a vacuum environment prior to engaging the two wafers, the space encompassed by the gasket and the two wafers forms a sealed vacuum during the heating process. Therefore, the heating process not only forms a palladium-silicon bond between the two wafers, but it also forms a vacuum seal around selected components included within either of the two wafers.
74 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method, comprising steps of:
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providing a first wafer having palladium on a surface of said first wafer; providing a second wafer having silicon on a surface of said second wafer; providing a gasket on one of said wafers; engaging said gasket with the other one of said wafers; engaging said palladium with said silicon; and increasing a temperature of said wafers in order to form a bond between said palladium and said silicon and in order to form a seal between said first wafer and said second wafer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for evacuating a chamber within a structure, comprising steps of:
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providing a first wafer including a contact on said first wafer; engaging said contact with a second wafer; engaging a gasket with one of said wafers; forming a vacuum around said first and second wafers; annealing said wafers subsequent to said forming a vacuum step in order to form a bond between said contact and said second wafer; and melting eutectic material between said gasket and said one of said wafers during said annealing step. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification