Integration of vacuum microelectronic device with integrated circuit

Abstract

A device includes an integrated circuit (IC) and at least one ultra-small resonant structure formed on said IC. At least the ultra-small resonant structure portion of the device is vacuum packaged. The ultra-small resonant structure portion of the device may be grounded or connected to a known electrical potential. The ultra-small resonant structure may be electrically connected to the underlying IC, or not.

Description

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright or mask work protection. The copyright or mask work owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright or mask work rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This relates to ultra-small electronic devices, and, more particularly, integrating such devices with integrated circuits.

INTRODUCTION

Integrated circuits (ICs) are ubiquitous. While it is desirable to add functionality (such as inter-chip optical communications) to existing ICs, this is typically done through external devices and connections.

Various ultra-small resonant structures have been described in the related applications to perform a variety of functions, including optical data transfer functions. These ultra-small resonant devices are functionally compatible with standard ICs.

It is desirable to integrate ultra-small resonant structures with ICs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description, given with respect to the attached drawings, may be better understood with reference to the non-limiting examples of the drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, 3B, and 4-7 show ICs integrated with ultra-small resonant structures.

THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an integrated structure 100 in which IC 102 is integrated with an ultra-small resonant structure (RS) 104. The ultra-small resonant structure 104 can be formed on an external surface of the IC, e.g., on the top of the upper layer dielectric or polymer layer 106 of the IC 102. There is no need for the ultra-small resonant structure 104 to have any (direct or indirect) electrical connection to the IC 102, and it may operated independently of the IC 102.

It may, however, be desirable to ground the ultra-small resonant structure 104 (or to connect it to some known potential). Grounding may be achieved, e.g., as shown in the integrated structure 200 in FIG. 2, by electrically connecting the ultra-small resonant structure 104 to an appropriate pin 108 that is used to connect the IC 102 to a circuit board or other surface. The electrical connection can be achieved, e.g., by providing an appropriately shaped grounded region 112, formed on the IC, and then electrically connecting the ultra-small resonant structure 104 to the grounded region 112 (e.g., using connection 114). Instead of grounding, the ultra-small resonant structure may be connected to a region of some known potential.

The grounded region 112 and connection 114 may be formed of a metal such as, e.g., silver (Ag), and the structure 104 may be formed directly on the metal.

Although only one ultra-small resonant structure 104 is shown in most examples in this description, those skilled in the art will realize, upon reading this description, that more than one ultra-small resonant structure may be formed on an IC.

The IC may be any IC formed, e.g., with conventional semiconductor processing. The ultra-small resonant structure(s) may be any ultra-small resonant structure(s). Exemplary ultra-small resonant structures are described in the various related applications which have been incorporated herein by reference.

The ultra-small resonant structures may be made, e.g., using techniques such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/917,511, entitled “Patterning Thin Metal Film by Dry Reactive Ion Etching” and/or U.S. application Ser. No. 11/203,407, entitled “Method Of Patterning Ultra-Small Structures,” both of which have been incorporated herein by reference.

The ultra-small resonant structure may comprise any number of resonant microstructures constructed and adapted to produce EMR, e.g., as described above and/or in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/325,448, entitled “Selectable Frequency Light Emitter from Single Metal Layer,” filed Jan. 5, 2006 [Atty. Docket 2549-0060], U.S. application Ser. No. 11/325,432, entitled, “Matrix Array Display,” filed Jan. 5, 2006, and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/243,476 [Atty. Docket 2549-0058], filed on Oct. 5, 2005, entitled “Structures And Methods For Coupling Energy From An Electromagnetic Wave”; U.S. application Ser. No. 11/243,477 [Atty. Docket 2549-0059], filed on Oct. 5, 2005, entitled “Electron beam induced resonance;” and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/302,471, entitled “Coupled Nano-Resonating Energy Emitting Structures,” filed Dec. 14, 2005 [atty. docket 2549-0056]; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/400,280, titled “Micro Resonant Detector for Optical Signals on a Chip,” filed Apr. 10, 2006, [Atty. Docket No. 2549-0068]; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/______, entitled “Coupling energy in a plasmon wave to an electron beam,” filed on even date herewith [Atty. Docket No. 2549-0072].

The ultra-small resonant structures may emit light (such as infrared light, visible light or ultraviolet light or any other electromagnetic radiation (EMR) at a wide range of frequencies, and often at a frequency higher than that of microwave). The EMR is emitted when the resonant structure is exposed to a beam of charged particles ejected from or emitted by a source of charged particles. The source may be controlled by applying a signal on data input. The source can be any desired source of charged particles such as an ion gun, a Thermionic filament, tungsten filament, a cathode, a vacuum triode, a planar vacuum triode, an electron-impact ionizer, a laser ionizer, a field emission cathode, a chemical ionizer, a thermal ionizer, an ion-impact ionizer, an electron source from a scanning electron microscope, etc. The particles may be positive ions, negative ions, electrons, and protons and the like.

FIG. 3A is a side view of a system 300A which includes ultra-small resonant structures 304 formed on a grounded region 314 on a (top) surface of an IC 302. One or more sources of charged particles 306 are positioned so that the emitted beam(s) of particles 308 cause the structures 304 to resonate.

FIG. 3B is a top view of an exemplary system as shown in FIG. 3A. As shown in FIG. 3B, the structures 304 comprise a plurality of arrays of structures 304-B1, 304-B2, . . . , 304-Bn, formed on the grounded region 314. Corresponding charged particle emitters 306-1, 306-2, . . . , 306-n are formed on a different surface, perhaps on an IC. Each particle emitter 306-k emits a beam of charged particles to a corresponding array of ultra-small resonant structures 304-Bk. A deflector mechanism 307-k may be associated with some or all of the particle emitters 306-k to control the direction of the emitted beam. Control of the deflectors is not shown. For example, the beam emitted by particle emitter 306-2 has been deflected by emitter(s) 307-2.

Those skilled in the art will understand, upon reading this disclosure, that some or all of the deflector(s) may be formed on the same surface as the resonant structures.

In some cases it is desirable to have an ultra-small resonant structure electrically connect with the underlying IC. For example, FIG. 4 shows an integrated structure 400 in which IC 402 is integrated with various ultra-small resonant structures 404-1, 404-2, 404-3 (collectively ultra-small resonant structures 404). While FIG. 4 shows three ultra-small resonant structures, those skilled in the art will immediately understand upon review of this disclosure that the number of ultra-small resonant structures will vary by their function and application, and that more or less than three may be used.

Preferably a dielectric (insulation) layer 406 is formed on a surface of IC 402. A conducting (metal) layer 408, (e.g., silver or copper) is formed on the dielectric layer 406, and a second dielectric layer 410 is formed on the conducting layer 408. Another substrate layer 412 may then be formed on the second dielectric layer 410.

The first and second dielectric layers 406, 410 may be formed using, e.g., SiO₂. The metal layer 408 may be formed using gold (Au), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W) or the like.

Typically the conducting/metal layer 408 does not cover the entire dielectric layer below it. Those skilled in the art will understand, upon review of this disclosure, that the conducting/metal layer 408 covers a sufficient portion or portions of the first dielectric layer 406 to enable appropriate electrical contact(s) between one or more of the ultra-small resonant structures 404 and the IC 402.

The ultra-small resonant structures 404 may then be formed on the substrate 412.

One or more of the ultra-small resonant structures communicates with the IC 402 through contact vias formed in the insulation layers. As shown in the drawing, two of the ultra-small resonant structures connect to two contact locations (denoted C).

FIG. 4 also shows a deflection mechanism (plate 409) coupled to the IC at C3. The plate 409 may be used to control a beam of charged particles, causing the beam to travel along path P1 (when not deflected) or path P2 (when deflected). In this manner, the interaction of the beam of charged particles with the various resonant structures, e.g., with resonant structure 404-3, may be controlled by the IC. (The source of the beam of charged particles is not shown.)

Since the ultra-small resonant structures can be formed at temperatures of less than 120° C., the process of integrating an IC with ultra-small resonant structures will not damage the IC.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary circuit 500 without a substrate layer, and in which the ultra-small resonant structures are formed directly on the second dielectric layer 550.

In some cases, as shown, e.g., in the circuit 600 in FIG. 6, the ultra-small resonant structures are formed directly on a surface of the IC 602.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary circuit 700 in which the ultra-small resonant structures 704 are formed directly on the conducting (metal) layer 708. In this case the ultra-small resonant structure should not include a source of charged particles. The source of charged particles for each ultra-small resonant structure should, instead, be located off-chip.

All of the ultra-small resonant structures described are preferably under vacuum conditions during operation. Accordingly, in each of the exemplary embodiments described herein, the entire integrated package/circuit (which includes the IC and ultra-small resonant structures) may be vacuum packaged. Alternatively, the portion of the package containing at least the ultra-small resonant structure(s) should be vacuum packaged. Our invention does not require any particular kind of evacuation structure. Many known hermetic sealing techniques can be employed to ensure the vacuum condition remains during a reasonable lifespan of operation. We anticipate that the devices can be operated in a pressure up to atmospheric pressure if the mean free path of the electrons is longer than the device length at the operating pressure.

While certain configurations of structures have been illustrated for the purposes of presenting the basic structures of the present invention, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other variations are possible which would still fall within the scope of the appended claims. While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method making a device comprising: obtaining an integrated circuit (IC); forming a ultra-small resonant structure on an external surface of the IC; and vacuum packaging at least said ultra-small resonant structure.

2. A method as in claim 1 further comprising: electrically grounding said ultra-small resonant structure.

3. A method as in claim 1 further comprising: electrically connecting said ultra-small resonant structure to a known electrical potential.

4. A method as in claim 2 further comprising: forming a region on said IC; grounding said region; and electrically connecting said ultra-small resonant structure to said region.

5. A method as in claim 3 further comprising: forming a region on said IC; electrically connecting said region to a known electrical potential; and electrically connecting said ultra-small resonant structure to said region.

6. A method as in claim 2 wherein said ultra-small resonant structure is electrically grounded by electrically connecting said ultra-small resonant structure to an appropriate connection pin of said IC.

7. A method as in claim 3 wherein said ultra-small resonant structure is electrically connected to an appropriate connection pin of said IC to provide the known electrical potential.

8. A method as in claim 4 wherein said region is grounded by being electrically connected to an appropriate connection pin of said IC.

9. A method as in claim 5 wherein said region is set to said known electrical potential by being electrically connected to an appropriate connection pin of said IC.

10. A method as in claim 1 wherein said step of vacuum packaging comprises: hermetically sealing at least said ultra-small resonant structure.

11. A method as in any one of claims 1-10 wherein said ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in response to excitation by a beam of charged particles.

12. A method as in any one of claims 1-10 wherein said ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to detect electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

13. A method as in any one of claims 1-10 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure includes a source of charged particles.

14. A method as in claim 13 wherein said source of charged particles is selected from the group comprising: an ion gun, a thermionic filament, tungsten filament, a cathode, a vacuum triode, a field emission cathode, a planar vacuum triode, an electron-impact ionizer, a laser ionizer, a chemical ionizer, a thermal ionizer, an ion-impact ionizer.

15. A method as in claim 13 wherein the charged particles are selected from the group comprising: positive ions, negative ions, electrons, and protons.

16. A method as in claim 11 wherein the at least on ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to emit at least one of visible light, infrared light, and ultraviolet light.

17. A method as in claim 1 further comprising: electrically connecting said ultra-small resonant structure to said IC.

18. A method making a device comprising: forming at least one ultra-small resonant structure on an external surface of an integrated circuit (IC); and vacuum packaging at least said at least one ultra-small resonant structure.

19. A device comprising: an integrated circuit (IC); and at least one ultra-small resonant structure formed on an external surface of said IC.

20. A device as in claim 19 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is vacuum packaged.

21. A device as in claim 19 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is electrically grounded.

22. A device as in claim 19 wherein said at least on ultra-small resonant structure is electrically connected to a known electrical potential.

23. A device as in claim 19 further comprising: at least one electrically grounded region formed on said IC, wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is electrically grounded by being connected to said least one region.

24. A device as in claim 19 further comprising: at least one region formed on said IC, said at least one region being electrically connected to a known electrical potential, wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is electrically connected to said least one region.

25. A device as in claim 19 wherein at least one of said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is electrically connected to said IC.

26. A device as in claim 19 wherein said at least one of said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in response to excitation by a beam of charged particles.

27. A device as in claim 26 further comprising: a deflector electrically connected to said IC and constructed and adapted to control said EMR emitted by said at least one ultra-small resonant structure.

28. A device as in claim 27 wherein said deflector comprises: one or more deflector plates.

29. A device as in claim 28 wherein said deflector plates are formed on the same external surface of the IC as the at least one resonant structure.

30. A device as in claim 28 wherein said deflector controls said EMR by selectively deflecting said beam of charged particles.

31. A device as in claim 19 wherein said at least one of said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to detect electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

32. A device as in claim 19 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure includes a source of charged particles.

33. A device as in claim 32 wherein said source of charged particles is selected from the group comprising: an ion gun, a tungsten filament, a cathode, a planar vacuum triode, an electron-impact ionizer, a laser ionizer, a chemical ionizer, a thermal ionizer, and an ion-impact ionizer.

34. A device as in claim 32 wherein the charged particles are selected from the group comprising: positive ions, negative ions, electrons, and protons.

35. A method making a circuit comprising: obtaining an integrated circuit (IC); forming at least one ultra-small resonant structure, wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is electrically connected to said IC; and vacuum packaging said circuit.

36. A method as in claim 35 further comprising: forming a first dielectric layer on a surface of said IC; forming an interconnect layer on said first dielectric layer; and forming a second dielectric layer on said interconnect layer, wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is formed on said second dielectric layer.

37. A method as in claim 35 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is formed on a surface of said IC.

38. A method as in claim 35 further comprising: forming a first dielectric layer on a surface of said IC; forming an interconnect layer on said first dielectric layer; wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is formed on said second interconnect layer.

39. A method as in claim 36 further comprising: forming at least one contact via in said second dielectric layer to allow electrical connection of an ultra-small resonant structure on said substrate to said interconnect layer, and forming a second contact via in said first dielectric layer to allow electrical connection of said IC to said interconnect layer, wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is electrically connected to said IC via said first contact via, said interconnect layer and said second contact via.

40. A method as in claim 35 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in response to excitation by a beam of charged particles.

41. A method as in claim 35 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to detect electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

42. A method as in any one of claims 35-37 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure includes a source of charged particles.

43. A method as in claim 42 wherein said source of charged particles is selected from the group comprising: an ion gun, a tungsten filament, a cathode, a planar vacuum triode, an electron-impact ionizer, a laser ionizer, a chemical ionizer, a thermal ionizer, and an ion-impact ionizer.

44. A method as in claim 42 wherein the charged particles are selected from the group comprising: positive ions, negative ions, electrons, and protons.

45. A method as in any one of claims 35-37 wherein the at least on ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to emit at least one of visible light, infrared light, and ultraviolet light.

46. A method as in any one of claims 35-37 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to detect electromagnetic radiation.

47. A method as in claim 36 wherein said first dielectric layer comprises SiO2.

48. method as in claim 36 wherein said second dielectric layer comprises SiO2.

49. A method as in claim 36 wherein said interconnect layer comprises a metal selected from the group comprising: gold (Au), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) and tungsten (W).

50. A circuit comprising: an integrated circuit (IC); and at least one ultra-small resonant structure electrically connected to said IC, wherein said IC and said at least one ultra-small resonant structure are vacuum packaged.

51. A circuit as in claim 50 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is constructed and adapted to emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in response to excitation by a beam of charged particles.

52. A circuit as in claim 50 wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is formed on a surface of said IC.

53. A circuit as in claim 50 further comprising: a first dielectric layer formed on a surface of said IC; an interconnect layer on said first dielectric layer; and a second dielectric layer on said interconnect layer, wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is formed on said second dielectric layer.

54. A circuit as in claim 50 further comprising: a first dielectric layer on a surface of said IC; an interconnect layer on said first dielectric layer; wherein said at least one ultra-small resonant structure is formed on said second interconnect layer.