Patent Application
20100279451
The invention relates to control of microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) and more particularly to the tuning and alignment of microelectromechanical (MEM).
The introduction of integrated circuits (ICs) in the 20th century fundamentally changed the way engineers design electronic systems. In telecommunications, RF integrated circuits have performance requirements that are not readily or cheaply attainable using commercial IC technologies. These technologies are usually tailored to digital or more traditional analog designs and, consequently, are limited by the low quality (Q) factors of passive devices such as integrated inductors, capacitors, and filters. This forces engineers to design around performance limited IC devices, or to resort to hybrid integration strategies with off-chip circuit elements such as inductors, capacitors, crystals, and filters.
Today, the trend towards reduced cost, increased integration, and added functionality by solutions such as system-on-a-chip (SoC) renders off-chip components undesirable because of their impact on production quality, cost, and size. Recently, much attention has been focused on MEMS. MEMS are integrated devices or systems combining electrical and mechanical components/functionality. Their dimensions can range in size from the sub-micrometer level to the millimeter level, and there can be any number, from one, to few, to potentially thousands or millions in a particular system. Historically, MEMS devices have leveraged and extended the fabrication techniques developed for the silicon integrated circuit industry, namely lithography, doping, deposition, etching, etc. to add mechanical elements such as beams, gears, diaphragms, and springs to silicon circuits either as discrete devices or in combination with integrated silicon electronics.
Accordingly, MEMS offer the opportunity to integrate many RF sub-components on-chip, which have traditionally been implemented off-chip. This provides the microelectronics designer with a new toolset of devices and functionalities. A higher level of integration can be achieved, which translates into more functionality in the same form factor, and enables lighter, lower cost, and more portable wireless systems when applied to RF circuits and components. Compared to conventional integration-friendly devices such as integrated inductors, MEM components have the potential to offer better performance through enhanced Q-factors and lower activation power. Specifically, MEM resonators can provide flexible on-chip re-configurability and high filtering performance, and benefit from integration of the necessary signal provisioning, processing and control required from integrated electronics within the chip to which the MEM resonator is integrated.
MEM resonators have been in active development since the 1980s, and were conceptually introduced in the 1940s. In the early stages, frequency of operation of such devices were in the audio range, and integration remained a sought after mystery. More recently, developments in the field of MEMS packaging such as Y. T. Cheng, et al. [“Vacuum Packaging Technology using Localized Aluminum/Silicon-to-Glass Bonding” J. of MEMS, Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 556-565, October 2002] and R. Legtenberg et al [“Electrically Driven Vacuum-Encapsulated Polysilicon Resonators” Sensors and Actuators A, Vol. 45, pp. 57-66, 1994] coupled with increasing developments on miniaturization have allowed high frequency operation making them an attractive alternative for RF systems.
In wireless systems, micromechanical resonators are attractive components to use as IF or image rejection filters as well as in frequency references, see for example C. Nguyen [“Microelectromechanical Devices for Wireless Communications,” Proc. IEEE Intl. Conf. on MEMS, pp. 1-7, January 1998]. MEM resonator-based filters that achieve high-Q, low insertion loss, and exhibit elevated stability when used in oscillators are hence an attractive integration alternative. In addition, MEM resonators have a resonant frequency that depends on their operating conditions such as temperature, pressure, or ambient chemical content. By capitalizing on these variations, designers can use MEM resonators to measure different physical parameters with high accuracy. MEM resonators have already been considered for use in sensing applications of gas, vibration, ultrasound, chemical and biological sensing. In other filtering applications, MEM resonators have been investigated for use in such biomedical domains as artificial cochlear implants.
In order to become a relevant and competitive technology, similar to the recent integration developments of supra-IC bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters, see for example A. Dubois et al. [, “Integration of high-Q BAW Resonators and Filters Above ICs”, Proceedings of the IEEE Int. Solid-State Conf., Vol. 1, pp. 392-393, February 2005], MEM resonators require fabrication processes that are suited to integration with the dominant IC processes such as silicon-based CMOS. This enables the cost effective and efficient use of MEM resonators in the numerous sensing and filtering applications that are potential markets for the technology. Further, it would be advantageous if the MEM resonator fabrication process was compatible with not only silicon CMOS integration but the manufacturing of MEM resonators from materials offering enhanced performance compared to silicon such as ceramics including silicon carbide, silicon dioxide, and silicon nitride, and carbon including thin-film diamond. Such materials offering enhanced Young's modulus, high acoustic velocity, increased environmental tolerance enhanced chemical resilience and insulating structural layers for increased electrical design flexibility.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: providing an integrated circuit as a first substrate; and providing at least a deposited MEM structure onto the first substrate wherein the deposited MEM structure comprises at least a heater for controllably heating of the MEM structure.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: designing a low temperature MEM device, the low temperature MEM device based upon a semiconductor based manufacturing process comprising at least one semiconductor process for providing at least a heater, each of the at least a semiconductor process limiting the maximum temperature of at least one of the in-process low temperature MEM device and a substrate onto which the low temperature MEM device is being manufactured to below 300° C.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: (a) providing a substrate; (b) providing at least one lower metallization; (c) providing at least a sacrificial layer; (d) providing at least one middle metallization; (e) providing a structural layer; (f) providing at least one upper metallization; and (g) removing the at least one sacrificial layer.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: (a) providing a substrate; (c) providing at least a sacrificial layer; (e) providing a structural layer; (g) removing the at least one sacrificial layer; and at least one of (b) providing at least one lower metallization; (d) providing at least one middle metallization; and, (f) providing at least one upper metallization.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: (a) providing a MEM structure comprising a heater, an RF signal input port and an RF signal output port; (c) providing a signal at the RF signal input port; and (d) providing a heater potential, the heater potential applied to the heater; wherein heating of the MEM structure is dependent upon the heater potential and wherein tuning of an RF response of the MEM structure is responsive to heating of the MEM structure such that a signal at the RF output port is different as the MEM structure is heated for a same signal provided at the RF input port.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: providing a substrate; and providing at least a deposited MEM structure onto the substrate wherein the deposited MEM structure comprises a heater.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a MEMS device comprising a structural element and a heater for controllably heating the structural element to affect performance of the MEMS device.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a CMOS integrated circuit comprising a MEMS structure formed thereon, the MEMS structure comprising a heater, the MEMS structure formed at a temperature for other than substantially affecting operation of the CMOS circuitry.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
Referring to
As is evident from the material selection chart different types of materials tend to be grouped together. Ceramic materials 140 tending to appear in the top left, metals 150 appear in the middle-right, whilst polymers and elastomers 120 are grouped together in the bottom-left. The trend arrow 110 indicates the direction of preference for selecting materials for MEMS application in having high Young's modulus and low density. Accordingly, from material selection chart 100 better alternatives to silicon (Si) are silicon carbide (SiC), alumina (Al2O3) or diamond (C). Of these three, SiC represents an interesting choice as the processing technology is relatively mature whilst offering an increased performance over silicon. Although great strides are being made in developing nano-crystalline diamond for microsystem design, see for example J. Wang et al “1.51 GHz Nano-Crystalline Diamond Micromechanical Disk Resonator with Material Mismatched Isolating Support” (IEEE 17th Annual Conf. on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2004, pp. 641-644), the technology is still not widely available.
Referring to
As resonant devices, MEM resonators have a transmission characteristic that is tuned to a specific excitation frequency. In RF applications, these resonant structures are usually electro-statically actuated, and hence exhibit an electrical transfer function analogous to that of a highly selective band pass filter. As signal processors, these benefit from integration in communication systems where bulky and costly off-chip high-quality filters are replaceable by MEM resonators that are fully integrated to the underlying electronics. MEM resonators are also a significant enabling element of many sensing applications including, gas, vibration, ultrasound, chemical, and biological sensing. Biomedical applications extend into domains such as artificial cochlear implants. This large spread of applications makes resonators a critical building block candidate of any CMOS compatible MEMS process. MEM resonators are based on a structure's mechanical resonant modes and thus are intrinsically linked to the material properties of the MEMS structural materials, benefiting therefore from high Young's modulus and low density as outlined in respect of
The clamped-clamped beam resonator 200 is shown implemented onto a silicon substrate 240 to utilize the resonant electrical behavior of the clamped-clamped beam resonator 200. The resonant beam 220 is mounted by landings 230 having an electrode 250 positioned therebeneath. The clamped-clamped beam resonator 200 is based upon capacitive transduction. As such a signal input vi(t) from source 210 and a DC voltage VP 215 via inductor 216 are applied between the resonant beam 220 and the electrode 250. These bias and input voltages are effectively applied across a capacitor formed by the resonant beam 220 and the electrode 250 across the gap do 225 creating an electrostatic force, which is balanced by the spring force of the beam. Once in resonance, the resonator sources an output current via capacitor 217 as described below in respect of Equation 2:
where x represents the resonator beam's 220 displacement, ∈0 the permittivity constant, WB the width of the beam, WE the width of the electrode 250, and do the gap between the electrode 250 and lower surface of the resonant beam 220. As for the resonant frequency of the beam, it is defined by its shape and composition. In the case of a clamped-clamped beam resonator 200, neglecting the electrical spring force, the mechanical resonant frequency fo can be expressed as shown in Equation 3 as:
where HB defines the beam thickness, LB the free beam length, E the beam's Young's modulus and ρ it's density.
It is possible to use the coupling of multiple resonators to reduce the effective motional resistance of a single resonator as is shown in a coupled multiple resonator array 320 in CMOS-MEMS assembly 300 of
If the input signal is distributed across many MEM resonator elements 350 electrically connected in parallel, the output current is higher, thus making the power handling of the overall array larger than that of a single resonator. The flexural beams 330 provide necessary flexural mechanical coupling for better matching the resonators' resonant frequencies. This approach unifies the resonant frequencies of the MEM resonator elements 350 and exhibits an overall increase in transmission at a single frequency, while reducing the effects of frequency mismatch between each of the MEM resonator elements 350 that arise from manufacturing and material variations.
The second mode 420 with resonant frequency 420D has central resonator 420B in static equilibrium due to the edge resonators' 420A and 420C having complementary displacements. In order for the coupled multiple resonator 320 to operate effectively as a filter, or oscillator, one of the modes of operation 410, 420, 430 is isolated so that the coupled multiple resonator 320 has a unique resonant frequency and, as such, behaves as a single lower motional resistance resonating structure. This mode isolation is achieved by electrically stimulating the resonators in such a way as to favor a particular resonant mode of the array. For example the coupled multiple resonator 320 is excited into the first mode 410 of operation by having the electrodes of the three resonators 410A, 410B, and 410C connected to an input signal with uniform phase across all resonators, similar to the structure shown in
In resonator arrays like coupled multiple resonator array 320, the multiple operational modes are likely spaced away from each other in the frequency domain so that spurious modes lie well out of the band of interest for operation in a desired mode. This can be done through the use of high stiffness supports and coupling at high-velocity points such as connectors 330 of the coupled multiple resonator array 320. Alternatively half-wavelength supports, which have low mobility at the coupling point, are used to enhance the effective coupling stiffness of the supports.
It would be apparent that overall yield for such arrayed resonators such as coupled multiple resonator 320 is related to a combination of the manufacturing yield of the individual number of the MEM resonator elements 350 and the manufacturing tolerances of the processing of the MEM resonator elements 350 to align their resonant frequencies; these are scaled according to the number of MEM resonator elements 350. Accordingly, prior art coupled multiple resonator 320 designs exhibit low yield.
The clamped-clamped design, as employed for the each individual MEM resonator element 350, is achieved simply on the basis that the end-points of the beams are clamped by virtue of being fixed to the substrate. Alternatively, the MEM resonator element 350 is implemented using a free-free beam design such as shown in free-free designs 500A through 500C of
Considering second free design 500B then shown is substrate 510B within which edge contact free beam 520B is implemented. The edge contact free beam 520B is anchored to the substrate 510B by edge contacts 550B. Electrical connections comprise first interconnect 530B and coupled interconnect 540B. In third free design 500C shown is substrate 510C within which center width free beam 520C is implemented. The center width free beam 520C is anchored to the substrate 510C by center width mounts 550C. Electrical connections comprise first interconnect 530C and coupled interconnect 540C.
The free-free designs 500A through 500C typically result in increased variations in resonant frequencies because of the finite nature of the anchor sizes, increased variability in these anchors from manufacturing, and material variations. If the size of the anchoring points is too big, the beams will tend to behave as a clamped-clamped beam. Edge support which uses torsional supports is least intrusive on Q-factor and on resonant frequency because of its indirect constraint on the nodal points without direct substrate contact. It is however more difficult to fabricate because of the thin electrical support interconnect requiring fine resolution. Accordingly, whilst free-free designs offer designers an increased Q-factor, their reduced yield from prior art designs has resulted in these being more costly through reduced yield.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a means of tuning either the clamped-clamped resonator design, such as MEM resonator element 350, or the free-free resonator design, exemplified by free-free designs 500A through 500C, post-fabrication. Such post-fabrication tuning provides both increased yield and reduced cost to a specific target frequency but also provides additional design flexibility of tuning the resonators according to a characteristic of the signals being coupled to and from it by the excitation electrodes, such as second electrical interconnect 360 or coupled interconnects 540A through 540C.
Prior art MEM resonators are tunable to some degree by adjusting the DC bias voltage across the gap capacitance, such as between first and second electrical interconnects 340 and 350 of
According to an embodiment of the invention there is provided a thermal component for thermally tuning the resonant frequency of the MEM resonator without using the signal contacts. Such a novel MEM resonator is shown in
Therefore, providing an electrical connection to either end of the upper contact 620 via a DC voltage source, VHEAT, 650, results in DC current, IHEAT, heating up the beam. The heating allows tuning of the resonant frequency through temperature dependent material properties of the clamped-clamped beam 630. Further referring to
Here, the thermally tuned resonator array 660 comprises MEM resonator elements 350 of a clamped-clamped design electrically connected to the first electrical interconnect 340 and excited via the second electrical interconnect 360 as presented supra in respect of
As described hereinbelow, for a MEMS compatible process onto a Si CMOS device an important aspect relates to the method of forming the structural material of the MEMS devices based upon consideration of
Based upon material selection chart 100, it is evident that SiC, Al203 (alumina), diamond, and potentially Si3N4 (silicon nitride) offer enhanced MEMS performance to prior art silicon. In considering SiC as an example, a critical aspect of the implementation of MEM devices is the deposition of the core structural SiC layers. Within the prior art SiC has been traditionally deposited using one of four different methods:
Both LPCVD and APCVD have been used to successfully deposit SiC films; however, these reactions are usually highly endothermic and yield poor stress control, and hence require temperatures typically of 800° C. to 1300° C. As a result of these high temperatures, no method to date has allowed for post-CMOS integration using APCVD or LPCVD of SiC. Furthermore, the deposition rate is typically very low since the overall reaction is limited by the surface reaction rate.
PECVD which uses an RF-induced plasma to transfer energy to the reactant gases allows the substrate to remain at a much lower temperature. Using this technique, low temperature deposition is possible. The composition of SiC deposited at these relatively low temperatures is amorphous or polycrystalline with crystal grains present in more quantity when the deposition temperature is increased. Residual stresses in deposited films, however, are typically very high, and therefore a CMOS incompatible post-deposition high temperature anneal is used.
For SiC deposition to provide structural layers in MEMS by exploiting DC magnetron enhanced sputtering not only can the processing be performed at room temperature, but the process yields good stress control without requiring special CVD processes. DC sputtering is also usable for metal depositions for upper and lower metallizations to the ceramic layer resulting in a significant reduction in the amount and cost of equipment needed to implement the process. This renders the process disclosed herein less hardware dependant for enhanced manufacturability. Sputtering is typically performed by bombarding a SiC target with positive argon ions created in a plasma. These incident ions sputter away material by physical momentum transfer, which then condenses onto the substrate. Since this is a purely physical process, no external heat source is required and the process is optionally performed at room temperature; however, the substrate temperature rises due to bombardment by secondary electrons, and neutral atoms. According to an embodiment a maximum temperature of the substrate is limited to below 400 degrees Celsius and more preferably to below 350 degrees Celsius or even 250 degrees Celsius, which is considerably lower that most CVD processes. These maximum temperatures can be reduced further at the cost of lower throughput when thermal relief pauses are taken during deposition. Another advantage of physical sputtering is that deposited films are conformal and adhere well to the substrate. The puttering process has a relatively high deposition rate, and residual stresses are addressable by careful selection of the process parameters.
Further, some embodiments provide for a low temperature MEMS structural deposition process that is relatively simple, low-cost, and can be performed using only argon gas and a sintered SiC target. Beneficially the SiC from the process is amorphous, has isotropic material properties, maintains its high elastic modulus, hardness and inertness but is non-conductive thereby allowing the isolation of electrical contacts on one surface or between top and bottom surfaces as discussed hereinabove. The interconnects are metal-based in order to maintain low thermal loading to the Si CMOS circuits. This has an added benefit of lower resistance interconnects, as metal conductivities are orders of magnitude better than doped semiconductors. Further, it achieves low resistive energy losses that improve Q-factor performance of devices such as MEM resonators. Alternatively, with reduced thermal constraints doping is employed to provide interconnects to the SiC structural elements.
Accordingly, a manufacturing process flow is presented in respect of
Next at 703 a 0.2 μm polyimide layer 740 is deposited and patterned with oxygen reactive ion etching. The 0.2 μm polyimide layer 740 is sacrificial to release the MEM resonator as finally formed. On top of the sacrificial polyimide layer 740 60 nm aluminum layer (metal 1) 750 is deposited and patterned at 704. The 60 nm aluminum layer (metal 1) 750 forms a lower side metallization of the MEMS structure, in this case the beam interconnect layer.
Now referring to
Now referring to
Finally at 709 the polyimide sacrificial layer 740 is removed from the wafer using a dry oxygen plasma process. The result in the embodiment described is to release the beam of the MEM resonator. The release etch also removes any remaining exposed chromium layer 760 from under the SiC MEMS structural layer 770 where no aluminum layer (metal 1) 750 is patterned.
It will be evident that the exemplary embodiment presented in respect of
The embodiment presented in respect of
Providing electrical interconnections and structures on both the lower and upper sides of the MEMS structural layer is useful in providing a heating element but is also useful in providing for other applications and routing. Optionally the approach benefits any non-conductive structural layer. Alternatively, the lower metallization—structural layer—upper metallization structure is expanded to other combinations and multiple repetitions of the sandwich structure are provided without exceeding upper temperature limits of the Si CMOS compatible process. Accordingly, the flexibility to provide full metal—structural layer—metal sandwich structures together with partial variants of lower metal—structural layer and structural layer—upper metal, allowing the full scope of the Si CMOS compatible MEMS process to be exploited in supporting manufacture of a plurality of different MEMS devices including but not limited to RF switches with signal isolation, tunable inductors, tunable capacitors, RF resonators and tuned RF resonators.
In the following sections aspects of the exemplary embodiments are discussed in respect of aspects of the SiC MEMS layer.
Deposition: The SiC MEMS structural layer 770 was deposited in experiments with low intrinsic stress using DC magnetron enhanced sputtering at a range of powers from 300 W to 2000 W and under varying chamber pressures of 3 mTorr to 25 mTorr. An experimental deposition process, resulting film thickness, and resultant film stress are outlined below in respect of Table 1. Other deposition regimes for DC magnetron sputtering are usable without departing from the scope of the invention for low temperature deposition of SiC. Typical deposition rates are 75 nm/min from the DC magnetron conditions. Optionally, other deposition techniques are employed provided their maximum substrate temperature does not exceed a maximum temperature specified, for example 400° C., and preferably 300° C.
Etching: In general, patterning of SiC MEMS structural layer 770 is much more difficult than other commonly used semi-conducting materials because of its low reactivity. Due to the strong inter-atomic bond of the silicon and carbon atoms (1.34 times stronger than a Si—Si bond), etching using aqueous solutions is typically performed at temperatures greater than 600° C., which makes wet etching impractical for a low-temperature process. As a result, patterning for the SiC MEMS structural layer 770 is undertaken using, for example, dry processing techniques such as reactive-ion-etching and lift-off. Using lift-off is an attractive method since it can be used to pattern any type of material. In this technique, SiC is first non-conformally deposited over a high-aspect ratio pre-formed mold. Next, the temporary mold is then removed using a wet etch, which lifts-off the unwanted SiC and leaves the patterned structure behind. Even though this method yields good results, it is still quite involved and necessitates the use of multiple steps and sacrificial materials. Of course, wet processes that are operable below a specified maximum temperature may be used when applicable.
Dry plasma based techniques such as reactive ion etching (RIE) provide a simple technique to pattern a SiC MEMS structural layer 770. The rate of the overall etch process is dependant on many factors which include pressure, RF power, gas flow rate, DC bias, cathode temperature, and gas chemistry. These parameters are tunable to obtain highly anisotropic etch profiles for SiC and in order to sustain high etch rates, >2000 Å/min. To increase the etch rate further, the RIE chamber is optionally magnetically enhanced (ME).
Mask: In order to etch the SiC MEMS structural layer a mask is provided onto an upper surface thereof. Since the etch specified in the example within the RIE is NH3 based the lower tendency of chromium to form involatile etch products with fluorine has been exploited in establishing a two-layer metallic mask for the etching of the SiC MEMS structural layer. As shown in
The masking process described hereinabove for masking SiC exploits chromium to reduce a micro-masking effect, and thus reduces post-etch residue. Alternatively, an aluminum top conductive layer alone is employed as mask where such micro-masking effects are not critical limits to the MEMS performance. The bi-layer mask of chromium and aluminum to pattern the SiC allows low temperature MEMS process to mitigate micro-masking effects whilst patterning both the SiC and the top interconnect in one process step. The bi-layer mask of chromium-aluminum is optionally replaced with any two metal material combination to create the top electrical interconnect and etch the structural layer, provided it meets the requirements of deposition temperature, process compatibility, etch resilience, etch rate and etch quality. It would be apparent to one skilled in the art that the bi-layer mask provides enhanced cost benefits in a low temperature Si CMOS compatible MEMS process.
Etch Stop: For increased manufacturability, etching of thick, inert SiC MEMS structural layers is improved through inclusion of an etch-stop into the mechanical stack of materials of the process structure. Table 2 below presents etch rates under typical RIE process parameters for material discussed with respect to the above embodiments, namely SiC 770, aluminum 790, and chromium 795.
Accordingly, 800 Å is typical of the etch stop employed as chromium layer 760 within
Sacrificial Layer: A sacrificial material is used to create the gap between the SiC MEMS structural layer and actuation electrodes or structures on a for example Si CMOS substrate. Since different types of RF MEM devices have different topologies, the thickness of this layer is adjustable; for example, RF MEM resonators such as clamped-clamped beam resonator 200 of
However, a main drawback of wet etching the sacrificial layer is that capillary forces can pull free-standing structures down to the substrate after the wafer is dried. This effect, called stiction, can render a large portion of devices inoperable. Therefore, a more attractive release method is to use a dry plasma based etch. Since the etch takes place in a vacuum, no special rinsing and drying procedures to prevent stiction are required after release. In both cases, however, the release step is preferably highly selective to the sacrificial material and thus, in the examples above, should not etch either aluminum or silicon carbide. SiC does not etch easily in aqueous solutions and is relatively inert, however, aluminum is readily etched by many commonly used release etchants such has hydrofluoric acid (HF). Also, since this process is intended for integration with CMOS, ideally the etchant is ‘oxide compatible’ to ensure that the underlying electronics are not damaged by the release process. As such the etchant preferably does not attack common CMOS passivation or planarization layers such as phosphosilicate glass, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride when the process is used with a CMOS circuit.
For embodiments of the invention described hereinabove the sacrificial layer is polyimide. Polyimides are special types of polymers that have both excellent chemical resistance and thermal stability usually deposited in a spin coating process. The initial solution is composed of a high-molecular weight, polyamic acid precursor dissolved in an N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent system. The spun film is then cured at elevated temperatures, which evaporates any remaining solvent and converts the polyamic acid into its insoluble and highly chemically resistant form. After imidization is complete, these films are mechanically tough and withstand a number of common solvents and acids, including acetone, isopropyl alcohol, PAN, and CR-14. Thus, this material is suitable for the process described, which contains both aluminum and chromium layers. Alternatively, another material is used as the sacrificial material.
When used as a sacrificial material, polyimide has many advantages. First, since it is deposited in a spin coating process, the deposition temperature is only limited by the curing step, which is optionally as low as 200° C. This makes it suitable for a low-temperature, CMOS-compatible MEMS fabrication processes. Second, polyimide films are readily etched in oxygen plasma and thus, devices can be released in a completely dry process which eliminates complex drying procedures. Lastly, the thickness of the layer is controllably adjustable from a few microns all the way down to 100 nm by diluting with an appropriate solvent and by changing the spin speed. This allows for great design flexibility in respect of the different types of RF MEMS devices requiring different gap sizes while maintaining the simplicity of being removed using thy oxygen plasma etching.
Whilst the embodiments described hereinabove with respect to low temperature CMOS compatible MEMS process have been described with respect to one materials system, SiC and metallization it the process relates to other materials systems.
Whilst the embodiments are described with respect to DC magnetron sputtering of SiC, optionally the SiC is deposited by another sputtering process providing low maximum substrate temperatures. Optionally, SiC is replaced by another ceramic structural layer, for example one or more of silicon, silicon dioxide, and silicon nitride. Similarly whilst the electrical interconnections have been described in respect of aluminum, alternatively other metallization is implemented according to the specifications of conductivity, resistance, environment, chemical resilience etc. Optionally alternative metallization includes, but is not limited to, gold, titanium, tungsten, silver, copper, and alloys thereof.
The sacrificial material whilst described as polyimide is alternatively another material. When used with a low temperature manufacturing process, the other material is suited to low-temperature processing, for example spin-on or sputtered deposition techniques with appropriate sacrificial layer processing and ability to form the MEMS in respect of the thinness of the gap. Alternative sacrificial materials including but not limited to include sputtered chromium, silicon, silicon dioxide, indium tin oxide (ITO), spin-on glasses, PMNA or any organic compounds could be used in the process at low temperatures.
Referring to
Referring to
The clamped-clamped resonator beam 820B, according to an embodiment, is non-conductive and accordingly a heater 870B is implemented onto the upper surface of the resonator beam 820B. This heater 870B is electrically isolated from the first interconnect 830B and coupled interconnect 840B. Electrical interconnections to the heater 870B are provided by electrical connections formed along upper surfaces of the end supports 850B and terminating on the landing pads 860B.
It would be evident to one skilled in the art that whilst the MEMS circuit resonators 800A and 800B are shown as discrete MEMS devices that alternatively the electrical interconnections for both the resonator itself, for example first interconnect 830B and coupled interconnect 840B, and the heater 870B, via landing pads 860B are optionally interfaced directly to electrical connections of a CMOS circuit formed within the substrate.
Referring to
Now referring to
In subsequent plots 1070 through to 1010 the electrical power is increased to 120 mW, 150 mW, 170 mW, 200 mW and 225 mW, respectively. As the electrical power increases to the final curve 225 mW plot 1010, the centre frequency has been reduced to approximately 8.46 MHz and the peak S21 has increased to −26.4 dB. Accordingly thermal tuning increased a tuning range from 0.32 MHz by an additional 0.43 MHz with only 1 dB insertion loss variation over the extended range.
Beneficially therefore the embodiments presented hereinabove provide a tuning mechanism that is dependent on material properties and is thus intrinsically less intrusive on linear device operation. Importantly, an SiC based MEM resonator is completely compatible with processing for direct integration of the MEM resonator onto the Si CMOS circuitry.
When multiple beams are present within a same device, thermal tuning allows for each of the beams to be calibrated independent of manufacturing errors thereby improving yield and performance. Providing thermal tuning for a resonator within an integrated CMOS-MEMS manufacturing process potentially provides both increased functionality and performance and results in increased manufacturing yields, reduced costs and truly integrated circuit solutions both in terms of electronics integration and thermal tuning integration. Further, the application of the heating element directly in contact with the resonator device, and the use of a good thermal conductor such as SiC as described in this invention allows for efficient thermal energy transfer and thus rapid thermal tuning of the resonator.
Whilst the embodiments presented supra have been presented in respect of resonators, it would be apparent to one with knowledge of MEMS that thermal tuning is applicable to a wide range of MEMS devices including but not limited to inductors, switches, attenuators, and micro-mirrors. Numerous other embodiments may be envisaged without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CA08/02243 | 12/29/2008 | WO | 00 | 6/28/2010 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61006175 | Dec 2007 | US |
