Method of fabrication of Al/Ge bonding in a wafer packaging environment and a product produced therefrom
First Claim
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1. A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising:
- a first substrate comprising a MEMS feature and a patterned germanium layer in direct contact with the first substrate; and
a second substrate comprising a patterned aluminum layer, wherein germanium of the patterned germanium layer of the first substrate is in direct contact with and matched to aluminum of the patterned aluminum layer of the second substrate to form a hermetic seal ring, wherein the patterned aluminum layer is properly patterned to match the patterned germanium layer in the area of the hermetic seal ring.
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Abstract
A method of bonding of germanium to aluminum between two substrates to create a robust electrical and mechanical contact is disclosed. An aluminum-germanium bond has the following unique combination of attributes: (1) it can form a hermetic seal; (2) it can be used to create an electrically conductive path between two substrates; (3) it can be patterned so that this conduction path is localized; (4) the bond can be made with the aluminum that is available as standard foundry CMOS process. This has the significant advantage of allowing for wafer-level bonding or packaging without the addition of any additional process layers to the CMOS wafer.
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18 Claims
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1. A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device comprising:
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a first substrate comprising a MEMS feature and a patterned germanium layer in direct contact with the first substrate; and a second substrate comprising a patterned aluminum layer, wherein germanium of the patterned germanium layer of the first substrate is in direct contact with and matched to aluminum of the patterned aluminum layer of the second substrate to form a hermetic seal ring, wherein the patterned aluminum layer is properly patterned to match the patterned germanium layer in the area of the hermetic seal ring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A wafer structure comprising:
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a first substrate comprising at least one microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) feature, wherein the first substrate further comprises at least one patterned germanium layer; and a second substrate comprising at least one patterned aluminum layer and one electrical contact, wherein the at least one patterned germanium layer is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum layer to create an inter-substrate electrical contact and a mechanical contact between the first substrate and the second substrate. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A wafer structure comprising:
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a first substrate comprising at least one microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) feature, wherein the first substrate further comprises at least one patterned germanium layer and at least one via configured to provide electric feedthrough of signals; and a second substrate comprising at least one patterned aluminum layer and one electrical contact, wherein the at least one patterned germanium layer is bonded to the at least one patterned aluminum to mechanically couple the first substrate to the second substrate via a hermetic seal ring and to electrically couple the at least one via of the first substrate to the one electrical contact of the second substrate within the hermetic seal ring. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification