Patent Grant
8030651
1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to a micro electro mechanical device (a micro electronic mechanical system) formed over an insulating substrate. In particular, the present invention relates to a micro mechanical structure of a micro electro mechanical device and a method for manufacturing the micro mechanical structure of the micro electro mechanical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a micro mechanical system called MEMS has been actively researched. MEMS is abbreviation of Micro Electro Mechanical System and translated into a micro electro mechanical device, a micro electro mechanical system, or the like. MEMS is also called a micro machine in Japan and is also called an MST (Micro System Technology) in Europe or the like. In this specification, MEMS is also described as a micromachine or a micro electro mechanical device. MEMS corresponds to an electronic device in which a micro mechanical portion including “a movable micro structure having a three-dimensional structure” is combined with “an electric circuit including a semiconductor element” which controls the mechanical portion. In addition, MEMS is also simply called a micro machine.
Since a MEMS can control its micro structure by an electric circuit, it has been expected that an autonomous-distributed type system can be constructed instead of a central-processing control type system such as a conventional device using a computer. For example, a MEMS can process data obtained by a sensor by using an electric circuit and can drive an actuator or the like in accordance with data processing.
Many researches have been made on a micro machine. For example, an advanced MEMS wafer level package has been proposed to solve a problem that a manufacturing process cannot be used in facilities for wafer manufacturing and plastic assembly in Reference 1 (Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2001-144117). Reference 2 (Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2004-1201) discloses that preferable mechanical characteristics are generated in a layer which forms a structure by controlling laser irradiation.
However, as disclosed in Reference 1, a micro structure which forms a micro machine is manufactured in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor element using a silicon wafer. In particular, in order to obtain a material having thickness and intensity enough for manufacturing of a micro structure, micro machines which are practically used are mainly manufactured by using silicon wafers. In addition, Reference 2 discloses only a cantilever which is a micro structure but dose not disclose integration of the micro structure with an electric circuit at all.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a micro electro mechanical device in which a micro structure and an electric circuit which controls the micro structure are integrated over the same substrate, and a manufacturing method thereof.
A micro electro mechanical device of the present invention includes a micro structure and an electric circuit which controls the micro structure over an insulating surface. The electric circuit is electrically connected to the micro structure and includes a transistor. The micro structure at least includes a structural layer which is not fixed to a substrate and a structural layer part of which is fixed to the substrate. Description “part of a structural layer is fixed to a substrate” corresponds to that the structural layer has a portion which is not fixed to the substrate. That is, the description “part of a structural layer is fixed to a substrate” corresponds to that part of the structural layer is fixed to the substrate so that a space is formed between the substrate and another part of the structural layer. At least one of structural layers which form the micro structure is completely separated from the substrate and a movable range is limited by a structural layer fixed to another substrate. For example, the structural layer which is completely separated from the substrate is used as a rotor and a structural layer serving as a rotation axis of the rotor is formed so as to be fixed to the substrate, so that a movable range of the structural layer serving as the rotor is limited by the structural layer serving as the rotation axis or the like.
In a micro electro mechanical device of the present invention, a micro structure includes a layer with a stacked structure which is the same as a stacked structure of a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer of a transistor as first and second structural layers. That is, the micro structure has structural layers including a layer which is formed of the same insulating film as the gate insulating layer and a layer which is formed of the same semiconductor film as the semiconductor layer of the transistor.
As for a micro electro mechanical device in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor layer included in a micro structure has a multi-layer structure and crystalline structures of layers are varied. Therefore, a defect of each layer is compensated so that damage to the micro structure can be suppressed.
As for a micro electro mechanical device in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a compound of a semiconductor with a metal like a silicide is included in a structural layer of a micro structure. Therefore, intensity of the structural layer can be improved than that of polycrystalline silicon and conductivity can also be improved.
As for a method for manufacturing a micro electro mechanical device in accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a layer formed of the same film as a gate electrode is used for a layer serving as a sacrificial layer in order to provide a movable portion to a micro structure.
In a micro electro mechanical device of the present invention, a micro structure and an electric circuit which controls the micro structure are formed over the same insulating surface, so that mechanical intensity of a connection portion of the electric circuit and the micro structure is high and poor connection is hardly generated. In addition, by a method for manufacturing the micro electro mechanical device of the present invention, a micro electro mechanical device can be provided in which a micro structure and an electric circuit which controls the micro structure are formed over the same insulating surface through the same step. That is, there is no separation of steps such that the micro structure is manufactured after the electric circuit is manufactured or the electric circuit is manufactured after the micro structure is manufactured. Thus, the method for manufacturing is simplified so that the micro electro mechanical device can be manufactured at low cost.
In the accompanying drawings:
Hereinafter, embodiment modes of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to description to be given below. Unless changes and modifications depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention, they should be construed as being included therein. Therefore, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the description of the embodiment modes and embodiment.
Note that elements having the same reference numerals denote the same elements among different embodiment modes and repetitive description thereof is omitted.
In this embodiment mode, a method for manufacturing a micro structure and an electric circuit which controls the micro structure over the same substrate and at the same time is described.
The electric circuit 10 and the micro structure 11 are provided over the same substrate 100 having an insulating surface. A transistor of the electric circuit 10 is a thin film transistor and a structure thereof is a bottom-gate structure. The transistor includes a first conductive layer 101, a first insulating layer 102 over the first conductive layer 101, a semiconductor layer 103 over the first insulating layer 102, and second conductive layers 104 over the semiconductor layer 103.
The first conductive layer 101 forms a gate electrode or a gate wiring of the transistor. The first insulating layer 102 forms a gate insulating layer. At least a channel formation region and a high-concentration impurity region functioning as a source region or a drain region are formed in the semiconductor layer 103. The second conductive layers 104 are connected to the high-concentration impurity region of the semiconductor layer 103 and functions as a source electrode or a drain electrode.
A second insulating layer 105 is formed so as to cover the transistor. Third conductive layers 106 are formed over the second conductive layer 105. The third conductive layers 106 are connected to the second conductive layers 104 through a contact hole formed in the second insulating layer 105.
An electrode, a wiring, and a terminal of the electric circuit 10 are formed by using the first conductive layer 101, the second conductive layers 104, and the third conductive layers 106. The micro structure 11 and the electric circuit 10 are electrically connected by the electrode and the wiring formed by using the first conductive layer 101, the second conductive layers 104, and the third conductive layers 106. An element other than the transistor is also formed in the electric circuit 10. For example, a MIS-type capacitor or a diode can be formed by using the semiconductor layer 103.
As shown in
The movable electrode 121 is discoid. The movable electrode 121 is provided with four opening portions 121a and is separated from the substrate 100.
The twelve fixed electrodes 122 are circularly provided so as to surround the movable electrode 121. Although the fixed electrodes 122 are fixed to the substrate 100, leading edges (edges which are close to the movable electrode 121) thereof are separated from the substrate 100 and electrostatic force can be set to operate on the movable electrode 121 in a position separated from the substrate.
Each of the movable electrode 121, the fixed electrodes 122, and the wirings 123 has a multi-layer structure. A lower layer thereof is formed of an insulating layer and an upper layer thereof is formed of a conductive layer. The insulating layer of the lower layer is formed of the same insulating film and in the same layer as the first insulating layer 102. The conductive layer of the upper layer is formed of the same semiconductor film and in the same layer as the semiconductor layer 103 of the transistor.
The micro structure 11 can function as a three-phase quadruple motor by connecting the twelve fixed electrodes 122 in parallel every three fixed electrodes by using the wirings 123. Electrostatic force (electrostatic attraction) is generated between the movable electrode 121 and each of the fixed electrodes 122 by sequentially applying voltage to each of the three-phase fixed electrode 122. The movable electrode 121 is rotated by this electrostatic force. A rotation direction of the movable electrode 121 can be controlled by the voltage applied to each of the fixed electrodes 122.
Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the MEMS shown in
As the substrate having the insulating surface, an insulating substrate such as a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, or a plastic substrate, or an insulating substrate in which an insulating film is formed over a surface can be used. In addition, a conductive substrate of a silicon wafer, metal, stainless steel, or the like in which an insulating film is formed over a surface can also be used.
The insulating film which is formed over the surface of the substrate can be formed of a single-layer film or a multi-layer film of a material selected from silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy, x>y), silicon nitride oxide (SiOxNy, x<y), and the like. These films can be formed by CVD or sputtering. In the case of a silicon wafer or a metal substrate, nitride or oxide can also be formed by nitriding or oxidizing a surface thereof.
As a material of each of the first conductive layers 101 and 131, a metal such as molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), chromium (Cr), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), or aluminum (Al), a metal compound which includes any of these metal elements as a main component (e.g., titanium nitride or tungsten nitride), an alloy which includes any of these metal elements as a main component (e.g., an alloy of aluminum and titanium or an alloy of chromium and molybdenum), or the like can be selected. These materials can be formed by vapor deposition or sputtering, and each of the first conductive layers 101 and 131 is formed of a single-layer film or a multi-layer film of these materials.
The conductive layer 131 is a layer serving as a sacrificial layer, and shapes of the structural layers (the movable electrode 121, the fixed electrodes 122, and the wirings 123) of the micro structure 11 are defined by a shape of the first conductive layer 131. The first conductive layer 131 is formed to be discoid as shown in
In order to form a gate insulating film of the transistor, a material which is suitable for the gate insulating film is selected as the first insulating layer 132. For example, the first insulating layer 132 can be formed of a single-layer film or a multi-layer film of a material selected from silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy, x>y), silicon nitride oxide (SiOxNy, x<y), and the like.
Next, a semiconductor layer 133 is formed over the first insulating layer 132. The semiconductor layer 133 can be formed of silicon, germanium, or a compound of silicon and germanium (silicon germanium). In addition, the semiconductor layer 133 is formed of a crystalline semiconductor in this embodiment mode. An amorphous semiconductor is formed by CVD or sputtering and an amorphous semiconductor film is crystallized by light energy or thermal energy, so that a crystalline semiconductor film can be formed. Further, a microcrystalline semiconductor or a polycrystalline semiconductor can also be formed by CVD or sputtering. In the later case, crystallization (or improvement in crystallinity) can also be performed by light energy or thermal energy after the formation.
For example, in order to form amorphous silicon, it is only necessary to form amorphous silicon by CVD by using a source gas in which silane (SiH4) gas is diluted by adding hydrogen. Alternatively, amorphous silicon can be formed by sputtering by using a target formed of silicon. In order to form amorphous germanium, amorphous germanium can be formed by CVD by using a source gas in which germane (GeH4) gas is diluted by adding hydrogen or can be formed by sputtering by using a target formed of germanium. In order to form amorphous silicon germanium, amorphous silicon germanium can be formed by CVD by using a source gas in which silane (SiH4) gas and germane (GeH4) gas are mixed at a predetermined ratio and are diluted by adding hydrogen or can be formed by sputtering by using two kinds of targets formed of silicon and germanium.
Helium gas, fluorine gas, or a rare gas such as Ar, Kr, or Ne can be added to a source gas as well as hydrogen gas for formation by CVD. In addition, Si2H6, SiH2Cl2, SiHCl3, SiCl4, SiF4, or the like can be used as a source gas instead of monosilane (SiH4.). Further, a microcrystalline semiconductor or a polycrystalline semiconductor can be directly formed on the first insulating layer 132 by plasma CVD by using the above-described source gas. Furthermore, a microcrystalline semiconductor or a polycrystalline semiconductor can be formed by controlling substrate temperature or the like by using the above-described target.
As a crystallizing method of the amorphous semiconductor film, irradiation with laser light, irradiation with infrared rays or the like, heating in an electric furnace, introduction of a metal element which promotes crystallization of a semiconductor into a semiconductor film, or the like can be given.
As a laser which is used for crystallization, both a continuous wave laser (a CW laser) and a pulsed laser can be used. As a gas laser which is suitable for crystallization, an Ar laser, a Kr laser, an excimer laser, or the like is given. As a solid-state laser, a laser using a crystal such as YAG, YVO4, YAlO3, GdVO4, or forsterite (Mg2SiO4) which includes a dopant (e.g., Nd, Yb, Cr, Ti, Ho, Er, Tm, or Ta) as a medium, a glass laser, a ruby laser, an alexandrite laser, a Ti:sapphire laser, or the like can be given.
For crystallization of the semiconductor, not only irradiation with a fundamental wave of a beam emitted from such a laser but also irradiation with a beam of a second harmonic wave to a fourth harmonic wave of the fundamental wave can be performed. For example, a second harmonic wave (532 nm) or a third harmonic wave (355 nm) of an Nd:YVO4 laser (having a fundamental wave of 1064 nm) can be used. Energy density of the laser is necessary to be set in a range of greater than or equal to 0.01 MW/cm2 and less than or equal to 100 MW/cm2, and preferably, energy density thereof is set in a range of greater than or equal to 0.1 MW/cm2 and less than or equal to 10 MW/cm2. It is only necessary to set scan speed in a range of greater than or equal to 10 cm/sec and less than or equal to 200 cm/sec.
Note that a solid-state laser using the above-described crystal such as YAG as a medium, an Ar ion laser, and a Ti:sapphire laser can be continuously oscillated, and can also be pulsed oscillated with a repetition rate of 10 MHz or more by performing a Q-switch operation, mode locking, or the like. When a laser beam is emitted with a repetition rate of 10 MHz or more, a semiconductor film can be irradiated with the next pulse during the period in which the semiconductor film is melted by the laser beam and solidified. Therefore, a solid-fluid interface generated by performing irradiation with the laser beam can be continuously moved by scanning the laser beam, so that crystal grains of the semiconductor can be grown long in the scan direction.
Alternatively, the semiconductor film can be crystallized by performing irradiation with infrared light, visible light, or ultraviolet light which uses a lamp as a light source instead of the laser beam. As the lamp, a halogen lamp, a metal halide lamp, a xenon arc lamp, a carbon arc lamp, a high pressure sodium lamp, or high pressure mercury lamp is typically used. Irradiation with light by the lamp is repeated 1 to 10 times, preferably, 2 to 6 times. The lamp is turned on for 1 to 60 seconds, preferably, 30 to 60 seconds for one irradiation, and a semiconductor film is to be heated at a temperature of 600° C. to 1000° C. for a moment.
In the case of using an electric furnace for heat treatment, it is preferable that a heating process at around 400° C. be performed first to release hydrogen in silicon, and then, temperature be raised to temperature to crystallize amorphous silicon when the semiconductor is amorphous silicon in which silane is used as source gas. By performing such heat treatment, roughness of the film in crystallization can be suppressed.
As a formation method of the crystalline semiconductor, there is a method of performing crystallization using a metal element which promotes crystallization. This method is particularly preferable for crystallizing an amorphous silicon film. A metal element which promotes crystallization of the amorphous silicon film is introduced into a semiconductor and irradiation with a laser beam or heat treatment by an electric furnace at a temperature of 500° C. to 600° C. is performed, so that a crystalline semiconductor having high continuity of a crystal grain in a grain boundary can be obtained. As a metal element which promotes crystallization of silicon, one or a plurality of metal elements selected from iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), copper (Cu), and gold (Au) can be used. In addition, crystallization using the metal element can be applied not only to amorphous silicon but also to amorphous silicon germanium including germanium at around 0.01 to 4.5 atomic %.
A means for introducing such a metal element into the semiconductor is not particularly limited as long as it is a method in which the metal element can be over a surface of the semiconductor or inside of the semiconductor. For example, sputtering, CVD, plasma treatment (including plasma CVD), an adsorption method, or a method of applying a solution of metal salt can be used. Among them, the method of using a solution is easy and can easily adjust concentration of the metal element which is introduced into the semiconductor. In order to spread the solution over the entire surface of the semiconductor for applying the solution, it is preferable to improve wettability of the surface of the semiconductor. In order to improve wettability thereof, it is preferable to form an extremely thin oxide film having a thickness of 10 nm or less over the surface of the semiconductor. Such an extremely thin oxide film can be formed by performing irradiation with UV light in an oxygen atmosphere, thermal oxidation, treatment using hydrogen peroxide, treatment using ozone water including hydroxyl radical, or the like.
As for crystalline silicon which is crystallized by using the metal element, the bond of elements of silicon in a crystal grain boundary is continued without breakage, similarly to single-crystalline silicon. Because of a characteristic of such a crystal structure, toughness of crystalline silicon becomes higher than that of polycrystalline silicon which is manufactured by performing crystallization without using a metal element. This is because stress concentration caused by a defect of the crystal grain boundary does not occur so that fracture toughness of crystalline silicon becomes higher than that of polycrystalline silicon which is manufactured by performing crystallization without using the metal element. In addition, since electron mobility is high because the bond of atoms in the crystal grain boundary is continued, crystalline silicon is suitable for a material of a structural layer of a micro structure which is controlled by electrostatic force (electrostatic attraction). Needless to say, such crystalline silicon can be applied to a micro structure which is controlled by electromagnetic force.
In addition, silicide is formed by connecting the metal element such as nickel used for crystallization to silicon. It is known that a metal compound such as nickel silicide has higher intensity than that of silicon. Therefore, the metal element may be introduced so that silicide is formed in the structural layer.
On the other hand, since the metal element used for crystallization deteriorates element characteristics of the electric circuit 10, it is preferable to remove the introduced metal element after crystallization from the semiconductor layer 133 in the region (the second region) where the electric circuit 10 is at least formed. A method thereof is described below.
First, a barrier layer formed of an oxide film (called chemical oxide) is formed having a thickness of 1 nm to 10 nm over a surface of the crystalline semiconductor film by processing the surface of crystalline silicon with a solution including ozone (typically, ozone water). The barrier layer functions as an etching stopper when only a gettering layer is selectively removed in a later step.
Subsequently, the gettering layer including a rare gas element is formed over the barrier layer as a gettering site. Here, a semiconductor film including a rare gas element is formed as the gettering layer by CVD or sputtering. When the gettering layer is formed, a sputtering condition is adjusted appropriately so that the rare gas element is added to the gettering layer. As the rare gas element, one or a plurality of elements selected from helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), and xenon (Xe) can be used. Note that since a metal element tends to move to a region having high oxygen concentration in gettering, it is preferable that concentration of oxygen included in the gettering layer be, for example, 5×1018 cm−3 or more.
Next, the metal element is removed from crystalline silicon by performing heat treatment (e.g., heat treatment by an electric furnace or irradiation with a laser beam) to the crystalline silicon film, the barrier layer, and the gettering layer, so that concentration of the metal element in the crystalline silicon film can be decreased.
Next, as shown in
By this step, shapes of the first and second structural layers of the micro structure 11 are determined. A layered product of the insulating layer 126 and the semiconductor layer 134, which is formed circularly, forms the movable electrode 121, and a layered product of the insulating layer 127 and the semiconductor layer 135 forms the fixed electrode 122 and the wiring 123. Note that the movable electrode 121 is the first structural layer which is not fixed to the substrate 100 and is finally separated from the substrate 100. Therefore, all of the layered product of the insulating layer 126 and the semiconductor layer 134 is provided over a top surface of the first conductive layer 131 serving as the sacrificial layer. In addition, as shown in
Next, as shown in
In addition, in the first region, an impurity is similarly added to the semiconductor layer 134 which forms the first structural layer and the semiconductor layer 135 which forms the second structural layer to impart conductivity, so that conductive layers 128 and 129 are formed. Thus, the first structural layer can function as the movable electrode 121 and the second structural layer can function as the fixed electrode 122 and the wiring 123.
Next, a conductive film is formed by sputtering or the like and is processed by a photolithography process and an etching process, so that the second conductive layers 104 are formed in the second region and a second conductive layer 137 is formed in the micro structure 11 as shown in
The second conductive layer 137 is formed in the first region to protect the first and second structural layers from being removed by etching when an opening portion 107 is formed in the second insulating layer 105, which is described below. In addition, since the second conductive layer 137 is finally removed, it is also a sacrificial layer (a second sacrificial layer). The second conductive layer 137 covers at least a portion of the structural layers (126 to 129) in which the opening portion 107 is formed. Needless to say, there may be a portion in which a portion of a region, where the second insulating layer 105 is left, is covered in the structural layers (126 to 129). In this case, the wirings 123 of the micro structure 11 partially include a stacked-layer structure of the insulating layer 127, the conductive layer 129, and the second conductive layer 137.
In addition, the same materials as the first conductive layers 101 and 131 can be selected as materials of the second conductive layers 104 and 137, and the second conductive layers 104 and 137 are formed of a single-layer film or a multi-layer film of these materials. Note that since the second conductive layer 137 is formed so as to cover the conductive layers 128 and 129 which are formed of semiconductors, it is preferable to use a material including an metal element which can form a metal compound by reacting with silicon or germanium as the second conductive layer 137. As such a metal element, a refractory metal such as tungsten, titanium, molybdenum, or tantalum, cobalt, nickel, or the like can be given.
In this case, the second conductive layer 137 reacts with a metal element by performing heat treatment after the second conductive layer 137 is formed, so that the conductive layers 128 and 129 can be layers which are formed of metal compounds. If the conductive layers 128 and 129 are formed of silicon, they can be silicide layers. The conductive layers 128 and 129 are formed to be metal compounds such as silicide, so that both conductivity and intensity can be improved. Alternatively, the conductive layers 128 and 129 can partially be formed of metal compounds. As heat treatment for forming the metal compounds, heat treatment by an electric furnace or irradiation with a laser beam or lamp light can be used.
In the case where necessary electric conductivity can be obtained by forming the conductive layers 128 and 129 to be the metal compounds such as silicide, it is not necessary to add the n-type or p-type impurity to the semiconductor layers 134 and 135 in the step in
Next, as shown in
The second insulating layer 105 is an interlayer insulating film which separates the third conductive layers 106 from the second conductive layers 104 between the layers and can also function as a sealing layer which seals the electric circuit 10. As the second insulating layer 105, an inorganic insulating film of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy, x>y), silicon nitride oxide (SiOxNy, x<y), or the like can be used. Alternatively, an organic resin film of polyimide, acryl, or the like or a film including siloxane may be used. An organic resin may be any of a photosensitive resin and a non-photosensitive resin. The second insulating layer 105 can be formed of a single-layer structure or a multi-layer structure of these insulating materials. For example, a first layer can be an inorganic insulating film formed of silicon nitride and a second layer can be an organic resin film formed of polyimide or the like. Note that siloxane is a material which has a skeletal structure with the bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and as a substituent, an organic group (e.g., an alkyl group or an aryl group) is used. As the substituent, a fluoro group may also be used.
The third conductive layers 106 can be formed similarly to the first conductive layers 101 and 131 or the second conductive layers 104 and 137. Note that since the first conductive layer 131 and the second conductive layer 137 are removed by etching, it is necessary to select a material which cannot be removed by an etching agent which removes the first conductive layer 131 and the second conductive layer 137 as the third conductive layers 106.
After the third conductive layers 106 are formed, the opening portion 107 is formed in a region of the second insulating layer 105 in 11 is formed by etching as shown in
Next, the second conductive layer 137 (the second sacrificial layer) and the first conductive layer 131 (the first sacrificial layer) are removed by etching, that is, so-called sacrificial layer etching is performed. When sacrificial layer etching is terminated, the micro structure 11 shown in
For example, when the first conductive layer 131 and the second conductive layer 137 (the sacrificial layers) are formed of tungsten (W), a solution in which 28% ammonia and 31% hydrogen peroxide water are mixed in a ratio of one to two can be used as the etching agent. When these sacrificial layers are formed of aluminum, mixed acid of nitric acid and phosphoric acid can be used as the etching agent.
In addition, depending on the material of the sacrificial layers, sacrificial layer etching can also be performed by dry etching using a gas of F2 or XeF2 in a condition of high pressure such as atmospheric pressure.
Note that in order to prevent buckling of the micro structure by a capillary phenomenon in drying after wet etching, it is preferable to perform rinsing by using an organic solvent having low viscosity (e.g., cyclohexane), drying in a condition of low temperature and low pressure, or treatment in which these are combined.
In this manner, in the present invention, the micro structure having the rotor and the electric circuit can be formed over the same substrate having the insulating surface. Therefore, mechanical intensity of a connection portion of the electric circuit and the micro structure is high so that poor connection is hardly generated. In addition, since there is no step of integrating the micro structure and the electric circuit later, manufacturing cost can be reduced.
In this embodiment mode, a method for manufacturing a micro structure and an electric circuit which controls the micro structure over the same substrate and at the same time is described.
In the MEMS of this embodiment mode, an electric circuit 20 and a micro structure 21 are also provided over the same substrate 100. Although a transistor of the electric circuit 20 is a bottom gate thin film transistor, which is common to Embodiment Mode 1, a structure of a semiconductor layer 203 is different from that of Embodiment Mode 1. Although the micro structure 21 includes a rotor and a stator, which is common to Embodiment Mode 1, the micro structure 21 includes a rotation axis (a third structural layer), which is different from Embodiment Mode 1. A structure of the MEMS of this embodiment mode is specifically described with reference to
The electric circuit 20 and the micro structure 21 are provided over the same substrate 100 (over the same insulating surface). The thin film transistor of the electric circuit 20 includes the first conductive layer 101 which forms a gate electrode or a gate wiring of the transistor, the first insulating layer 102 which is provided over the first conductive layer 101 and forms a gate insulating layer, the semiconductor layer 203 over the first insulating film 102, and the second conductive layers 104 over the semiconductor layer 203.
The semiconductor layer 203 is a two-layer structure and includes a semiconductor layer in which a channel formation region is formed and a semiconductor layer (a conductive layer) which have n-type or p-type conductivity, which is stacked over the semiconductor layer and functions as a source region or a drain region (a high concentration impurity region). Hereinafter, the former is described as a first semiconductor layer and the latter is described as a second semiconductor layer. The second conductive layers 104 are formed over the second semiconductor layer of the semiconductor layer 203, are connected to the second semiconductor layer, and each function as a source electrode or a drain electrode.
The second insulating layer 105 is also formed in the electric circuit 20 so as to cover the second conductive layers 104, the semiconductor layer 203, the first insulating layer 102, and the first conductive layer 101. The third conductive layers 106 are formed over the second conductive layer 105. The third conductive layers 106 are connected to the second conductive layers 104 through a contact hole formed in the second insulating layer 105.
An electrode, a wiring, and a terminal of the electric circuit 20 are formed by using the first conductive layer 101, the second conductive layers 104, and the third conductive layers 106. An element other than the transistor is also formed in the electric circuit 20. For example, a capacitor can be formed by using an n-type semiconductor layer of the semiconductor layer 203, the first insulating layer 102, and the first conductive layer 101.
As shown in
The fixed electrodes 222 and the wirings 223 have the same structures as the fixed electrodes 122 and the wirings 123 of Embodiment Mode 1, respectively except that a stacked-layer structure of the structural layer which forms the electrode and the wiring is different, and each of the fixed electrodes 222 and each of the wirings 223 are integrated. Each of the fixed electrodes 222 and each of the wirings 223 can be collectively considered as the second structural layer.
The movable electrode 221 has a structure in which four T-shaped (a shape in which width of an edge is widened) layers are symmetrically formed around a disk. In addition, seeing from a top surface, an appearance of the movable electrode 221 is a cross shape and circumference of the movable electrode 221 is an arc-shaped.
Each of the movable electrode 221, the fixed electrodes 222, and the wirings 223 has a multi-layer structure. A lower layer thereof is formed of an insulating layer and an upper layer thereof is formed of a semiconductor layer. The insulating layer of the lower layer is formed of the same insulating film and in the same layer as the first insulating layer 102. The semiconductor layer of the upper layer has the same two-layer structure of the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer (the conductive layer) as the semiconductor layer 203, and is formed of the same semiconductor film and in the same layer as the semiconductor layer 203 of the transistor.
The rotation axis 225 is fixed to the substrate 100 through an opening portion which is formed in a central portion of the movable electrode 221. In addition, an edge of the rotation axis 225 is formed to be larger than the opening portion of the movable electrode 221 and is formed so that the movable electrode 221 does not come out. Note that it is not necessary to provide the rotation axis 225 in the central of the movable electrode 221. In the case where the micro structure 21 is to be used as the rotor, the rotation axis 255 can be provided in other than the central.
Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the MEMS shown in
First, similarly to Embodiment Mode 1, a substrate having an insulating surface is prepared as the substrate 100. Conductive films are formed over the substrate 100 and are processed into predetermined shapes by a photolithography process and an etching process, so that the first conductive layers 101 and 131 are formed as shown in
Another electrode, wiring, or terminal is formed by the first conductive layer 101 in the electric circuit 20 as well as the gate wiring of the transistor. The first conductive layer 131 formed in the micro structure 21 functions as a sacrificial layer and is processed into a discoid shape as shown in
Next, the semiconductor layer which forms the movable electrode 221, the fixed electrodes 222, and the wirings 223 is formed in the first region and the semiconductor layer which forms the semiconductor layer 203 of the transistor is formed in the second region. First, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Since a semiconductor layer having a two-layer structure of the semiconductor film 233A and the semiconductor film 233B is used as the structural layer in this embodiment mode, the structural layer can be formed of a semiconductor layer of two layers which have different crystalline structures. A characteristic such as intensity is varied depending on crystalline structures, a defect of the crystalline structure of each layer can be compensated by forming the structural layer using a multi-layer film of semiconductors having different crystalline structures.
For example, the semiconductor film 233A can be formed of an amorphous semiconductor and the semiconductor film 233B can be formed of a polycrystalline semiconductor. Alternatively, the semiconductor film 233A can be formed of a polycrystalline semiconductor and the semiconductor film 233B can be formed of an amorphous semiconductor.
Needles to say, the semiconductor film 233A and the semiconductor film 233B may have the same crystalline structure. By forming each of the semiconductor layers with a multi-layer structure, it becomes easy to form the structural layer thickly. For example, formation of an amorphous semiconductor film and crystallization by performing heat treatment using thermal energy or light energy are repetitively performed, so that a stacked-layer film in which crystalline semiconductor films are stacked can be formed. Since the stacked-layer film of crystalline semiconductors can be formed in this manner and internal stress of a lower layer can be relieved by performing heat treatment of a crystallization step of an upper layer, peeling of the film and transformation of the substrate can be prevented.
In addition, in the case where crystalline semiconductors are used as the semiconductor film 233A and the semiconductor film 233B, the semiconductor film 233A and the semiconductor film 233B can be stacked so that crystalline growth directions thereof are varied. For example, in the case of crystallizing the semiconductor films using a metal element, crystalline growth of the semiconductors develops in a vertical direction to the substrate when the metal element is added to the entire surface of regions to be crystallized. On the other hand, in the case of selectively adding a metal element and performing laser irradiation or heat treatment, crystalline growth of the semiconductors develops in a parallel direction to the substrate.
By stacking layers having different crystalline growth directions, a structural layer having excellent toughness can be formed. Since the layers having the different crystalline growth directions are stacked, a defect of each layer can be compensated. That is, a crack is hardly spread over the layer having the different crystalline growth direction even when the crack is generated in a crystal grain boundary of one layer, so that breaking of the structural layer can be suppressed.
In addition, the semiconductor films 233A and 233B can be crystallized by selecting a region which is crystallized. That is, the semiconductor films 233A and 233B can be crystallized by selecting only the region (the second region) in which the electric circuit 20 is formed or selecting only the region (the first region) in which the micro structure 21 is formed. For example, the semiconductor film 233A is formed of an amorphous semiconductor and only the region to be the micro structure 21 is crystallized. The semiconductor film 233B is formed of a micro crystalline semiconductor and partial crystallization is not performed. In this case, the first semiconductor layer of the micro structure 21 and the first semiconductor layer of the transistor have different crystalline structures even when they are formed in the same layer, and the second semiconductor layers of the micro structure 21 and the transistor have the same crystalline structure.
Note that selective crystallization is achieved by selectively irradiating the semiconductors with a laser beam. In addition, in the case of performing crystallization using the metal element, a region to which the metal element is added is formed partially.
After the semiconductor films 233A and 233B are formed, the semiconductor films 233A and 233B, and the first insulating layer 132 are processed into predetermined shapes by a photolithography process and an etching process as shown in
First semiconductor layers 234A, 228A, and 229A are formed from the semiconductor film 233A. Semiconductor layers 234B, 228B, and 229B are formed from the semiconductor film 233B. In addition, the first insulating layer 132 is removed except for portions which overlap with the semiconductor layers 234A, 234B, 228A, 228B, 229A, and 229B by an etching process, and the first insulating layer 102, and first insulating layers 226 and 227 are formed in the second region and the first region, respectively.
By this step, shapes of the movable electrode 221, the fixed electrodes 222, and the wirings 223 of the micro structure 21 are determined.
A layered product of the insulating layer 226, the first semiconductor layer 228A, and the second semiconductor layer 228B is the structural layer (the first structural layer) which forms the movable electrode 221, and is provided with an opening portion 230 for forming the rotation axis 225 in the center. A layered product of the first insulating layer 227, the first semiconductor layer 229A, and the second semiconductor layer 229B is the structural layer (the second structural layer) which forms the fixed electrodes 222 and the wirings 223.
The first insulating layer 102 serving as the gate insulating film and a semiconductor layer 234 which forms the semiconductor layer 203 are formed in the second region. The semiconductor layer 234 is formed of a stacked-layer film of the first semiconductor layer 234A and the second semiconductor layer 234B.
Next, a conductive film is formed by sputtering or the like and is processed by a photolithography process and an etching process, so that the second conductive layers 104 are formed in the second region and a second conductive layer 237 is formed in the micro structure 21 as shown in
The second conductive layer 237 is formed to protect the structural layers from being removed by etching when the opening portion 107 is formed in the second insulating layer 105, which is described below. In addition, since the second conductive layer 237 is finally removed, it is also a sacrificial layer (a second sacrificial layer). The second conductive layer 237 covers at least surfaces of the structural layers (the first semiconductor layers 228A and 229A, the second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B, and the insulating layers 226 and 227) in which the opening portion 107 is formed. Needless to say, there may be a portion which covers the structural layers (the first semiconductor layer 229A, the second semiconductor layer 229B, and the insulating layer 227) in which the second insulating layer 105 is left. In this case, the wirings 223 of the micro structure 21 partially include a stacked-layer structure of the insulating layer 227, the first semiconductor layer 229A, the second semiconductor layer 229B, and the second conductive layer 237.
The semiconductor layer 234 is partially removed by etching using the second conductive layers 102 as masks, so that the semiconductor layer 203 is formed in the second region. The second semiconductor layer 23413 is divided by this etching and a pair of second semiconductor layers 203B is formed. The pair of the second semiconductor layers 203B functions as a source region and a drain region. An outer layer of the first semiconductor layer 234A is partially removed and a first semiconductor layer 203A in which a channel formation region is formed is formed.
Oh the other hand, the second conductive layer 237 is formed of metal which can form a metal compound by reacting with silicon or germanium, so that the first semiconductor layers 228A and 229A, and the second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B are reacted with the second conductive layer 237 by performing heat treatment similarly to Embodiment Mode 1; thus, a metal compound (typically, silicide which is a compound of metal and silicon) can be formed in the first region. In this case, formation of the metal compound by heat treatment or the like is performed after the semiconductor layer 234 is etched.
In this case, all of the second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B can be formed of the metal compound. Alternatively, outer layers of the second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B can be partially formed of the metal compound. The second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B are conductive layers having n-type or p-type conductivity and intensity as well as electric conductivity thereof can be improved by forming the second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B to be the metal compound.
In addition, all of the first semiconductor layers 228A and 229A can be formed of the metal compound depending on thickness of the second semiconductor layers 228B and 229B. Certain thickness of sides which are in contact with the second conductive layer 237 can be at least formed of a metal compound. That is, sides of the movable electrode 221 and the fixed electrode 222 or inside of the opening portion 230 in which the rotation axis is provided later can be formed of the metal compound. Forming such portions which are easily damaged to be the metal compounds is extremely effective for improvement in intensity of the micro structure.
Further, since the first semiconductor layers 228A and 229A do not particularly have conductivity because of formation of the channel formation region of the transistor, resistance in the movable electrode 221, the fixed electrodes 222, and the wirings 223 can be lowered by forming the metal compound. In particular, since the metal compound is formed over a surface in which the fixed electrodes 222 are opposed to the movable electrode 221, an area of a portion where electrostatic force can be generated can be widened.
Note that electric conductivity of the first semiconductor layers 228A and 229A is improved, so that the first semiconductor layers 228A and 229A can be conductive layers. For example, it is only necessary to form an n-type or p-type impurity region by selectively adding an impurity which imparts n-type or p-type conductivity to a portion in the first region of the first semiconductor layer 233A before the second semiconductor layer 233B is formed (see
Next, as shown in
Next, as shown in
The opening portion 238 is formed inside of the opening portion 230 of the movable electrode 221. In order to separate the rotation axis 225 from the movable electrode 221, the opening portion 238 is formed to be smaller than the opening portion 230 which is provided in the movable electrode 221 shown in
A film formed of a polycrystalline semiconductor, metal, a metal compound, an alloy, or the like is formed over the second conductive layer 237 and is processed into a predetermined shape by a photolithography process and an etching process to form the rotation axis 225 as shown in
The edge (the portion over the second conductive layer 237) of the rotation axis 225 is processed to be wider than the opening portion 230 and a bottom of the rotation axis is formed so as to adhere to the substrate 100.
Next, the second conductive layer 237 (the second sacrificial layer) and the first conductive layer 131 (the first sacrificial layer) are removed by etching, that is, so-called sacrificial layer etching is performed. When sacrificial layer etching is terminated, the micro structure 11 shown in
In this manner, in the present invention, the micro structure having the rotor and the electric circuit can be formed over the same substrate having the insulating surface. Therefore, mechanical intensity of a connection portion of the electric circuit and the micro structure is high so that poor connection is hardly generated. In addition, since there is no step of integrating the micro structure and the electric circuit later, manufacturing cost can be reduced.
In this embodiment mode, an example is described in which the micro structure is transformed in the MEMS of Embodiment Mode 1. In this embodiment mode, a micro structure includes a mobile part (a slider) which is a comb-shape and long and fixed parts on opposite sides and moves in a direction which is horizontal to the substrate. Such a micro structure changes a certain mechanical movement into another movement, for example, it changes a rotational movement into a linear movement. Specifically, as shown in
In this embodiment mode, the electric circuit 10 and the micro structure 31 are also provided over the same substrate 100 (over the same insulating surface). As shown in
The mobile part 321 is a comb-shaped electrode and is formed so as to be separated from the substrate 100. The pair of the first fixed parts 322 is rectangular electrodes and is provided so as to sandwich the mobile part 321. Although the first fixed parts 322 are formed so as to be fixed to the substrate, edges of the first fixed parts 322 which are opposite to the mobile part 321 are separated from the substrate 100. The second fixed parts 325 are formed so as to adhere to the first fixed parts 322. In addition, edges of the second fixed parts 325 are separated from the first fixed parts 322 and overlap with the mobile part 321.
In the micro structure 31, the pair of the first fixed parts 322 is layers which limit their movements so as not to move in a direction which is different from a direction in which the mobile part 321 moves (here, the longitudinal direction of the mobile part).
In this embodiment mode, since the structure of the electric circuit 10 is the same as that of Embodiment Mode 1, a stacked-layer structure of the mobile part 321, the first fixed parts 322, and the wirings 323 are the same as the stacked-layer structure of the first structural layer (the movable electrode 121) and the second structural layer (the fixed electrodes 122 and the wirings 123).
Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the MEMS of this embodiment mode is described with reference to
Similarly to Embodiment Mode 1, a substrate having an insulating surface is prepared as the substrate 100. A conductive film is formed over the substrate 100 and is processed into a predetermined shape by a photolithography process and an etching process, so that the first conductive layer 101 is formed in the second region and a first conductive layer 331 is formed in the first region as shown in
Next, as shown in
Next, as shown in
By this step, shapes of the first and second structural layers of the micro structure 31 are determined. A layered product of the insulating layer 326 and the semiconductor layer 334 forms the mobile part 321 (the first structural layer), and a layered product of the insulating layer 327 and the semiconductor layer 335 forms the first fixed part 322 and the wiring 323 (the second structural layer). As shown in
Note that since the mobile part 321 is finally separated from the substrate 100, all of the layered product of the insulating layer 326 and the semiconductor layer 334 is provided over a top surface of the first conductive layer 331. In addition, in order to form a portion which is separated from the substrate 100 on edge of the first fixed part 322 and fix the first fixed part 322 to the substrate 100, an edge of the layered product of the insulating layer 327 and the semiconductor layer 335 is formed so as to cover the top surface and a side surface of the first conductive layer 331, and other parts of the layered product of the insulating layer 327 and the semiconductor layer 335 are formed so as to be in contact with the surface (the insulating surface) of the substrate 100.
An impurity which imparts n-type or p-type conductivity is selectively added to the semiconductor layers 103, 334, and 335 by doping or ion implantation. In order to selectively add the impurity to portions except for a portion over the first conductive layer 101 serving as a gate electrode, a resist mask is formed over a portion to which the impurity is not added by using photolithography and the impurity is added by using this mask. By this step, as shown in
Next, a conductive film is formed by sputtering or the like and is processed by a photolithography process and an etching process, so that the second conductive layers 104 are formed in the second region and a second conductive layer 337 (a second sacrificial layer) is formed in the first region as shown in
The second conductive layer 337 is formed to protect the first and second structural layers from being removed by etching when an opening portion 107 is formed in the second insulating layer 105. Therefore, it is not necessary that the second conductive layer 337 cover all of the structural layer (328 and 329) and it is only necessary that the second conductive layer 337 cover at least a portion of the structural layer (328 and 329) in which the opening portion 107 is formed. In addition, the second conductive layer 337 also functions as a sacrificial layer for forming a gap between the first fixed part 322 and the second fixed part 325.
Alternatively, when it is necessary that the structural layers have conductivity, the second conductive layer 337 is formed of a material including a metal element which can form a metal compound by being reacted with silicon or germanium as described in Embodiment Mode 1, so that each of the conductive layers 328 and 329 can be formed of a metal compound (typically, silicide).
Next, as shown in
Next, in order to connect the first fixed parts 322 and the second fixed parts 325, the second conductive layer 337 is partially removed by a photolithography process and an etching process (see
A conductive film is formed over the second conductive layer 237 and is processed into a predetermined shape by a photolithography process and an etching process to form the second fixed parts 325 (the third structural layer) as shown in
As a material of each of the second fixed parts 325, a metal such as molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), chromium (Cr), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), or aluminum (Al), a metal compound which includes any of these metal elements as a main component (e.g., titanium nitride or tungsten nitride), an alloy which includes any of these metal elements as a main component (e.g., an alloy of aluminum and titanium or an alloy of chromium and molybdenum), or the like can be selected. Alternatively, silicide of a refractory metal such as tungsten, titanium, molybdenum, or tantalum, cobalt, nickel, or the like, crystalline silicon having n-type or p-type conductivity, or the like can also be used. Each of the second fixed parts 325 is a conductive film formed by using a material selected from these conductive materials with a single layer or a multi layer. In addition, when it is not necessary that each of the second fixed parts 325 have conductivity, each of the second fixed parts 325 is formed by using an insulating material with a single layer or a multi layer. Note that a material which cannot be removed by an etching agent used for sacrificial layer etching which removes the first conductive layer 331 and the second conductive layer 337 is used as a material of each of the second fixed parts 325.
Next, the second conductive layer 337 (the second sacrificial layer) and the first conductive layer 331 (the first sacrificial layer) are removed by etching, that is, so-called sacrificial layer etching is performed. When sacrificial layer etching is terminated, the micro structure 31 shown in
In this manner, in the present invention, the micro structure having the rotor and the electric circuit can be formed over the same substrate having the insulating surface. Therefore, mechanical intensity of a connection portion of the electric circuit and the micro structure is high so that poor connection is hardly generated. In addition, since there is no step of integrating the micro structure and the electric circuit later, the structure of the MEMS is simplified so that manufacturing cost can be reduced.
Although the mobile part 321 (the first structural layer) has the comb shape in this embodiment mode, it can also be processed into a shape which functions as the rotor or the gear or a shape which functions as the slider. It is only necessary that the first structural layer be processed into a movable shape and the shape of the first structural layer is not limited to the shape of this embodiment mode.
Further, although the electric circuit 10 of Embodiment Mode 1 is used as the structure of the electric circuit in this embodiment mode, the electric circuit 20 of Embodiment Mode 2 can also be used as the structure of the electric circuit. In this case, a stacked-layer structure of the mobile part 321 and the first fixed part 322 (the first and second structural layers) is similar to that of the first and second structural layers (the movable electrode 221 and the fixed electrode 222) of Embodiment Mode 2.
In this embodiment mode, a structural example of a micro structure is described.
The micro structure includes the first mobile part 421 (a first structural layer) having a gear shape, the second mobile part 422 (a second structural layer) having a cog which engages with the first mobile part 421, and the fixed parts 425 for operating electrostatic force or the like on the second mobile part 422. The fixed parts 425 are electrically connected to the electric circuit which is not shown.
The first mobile part 421 is a gear and is separated from the substrate (the insulating surface) and other structural layers, similarly to the first structural layers of other embodiment modes. The second mobile part 422 is a slider and includes the cog which engages with the first mobile part 421. The second mobile part 422 is also separated from the substrate and other structural layers, similarly to the first structural layer. The first structural layer 421 engages with the second structural layer 422 in this manner, so that a linear movement of the first structural layer 421 can be changed into a rotational movement of the second structural layer 422. On the contrary, the rotational movement of the second structural layer 422 can be changed into the linear movement of the first structural layer 421.
For example, the second structural layer 422 can move linearly by utilizing the fixed parts 425. When electrostatic force is operated on the second mobile part 422 by applying voltage between the fixed parts 425 and the second structural layer 422, the second mobile part 422 moves horizontally like an electrostatic linear motor and the first mobile part 421 rotates. Note that the second mobile part 422 can also be moved by not electrostatic force but electromagnetic force. Such a micro structure can be used as a manipulator which deals with a small cell. Further, the micro structure can be a micro structure which rotates the first mobile part 421 and changes a rotational movement of the first structural layer 421 into a horizontal movement of the second structural layer 422 as shown in Embodiment Modes 1 and 2.
The micro structure shown in
Further, a structure of the electric circuit can also be the electric circuit 20 of Embodiment Mode 2. In this case, the stacked-layer structure of each of the first to third structural layers (421, 422, and 425) is similar to the stacked-layer structure of each of the first to third structural layers (221, 222, and 225) of Embodiment Mode 2.
In this embodiment mode, a technique for making a movable portion of a micro structure smoothly move is described.
The micro structure 11 of Embodiment Mode 1 is described as an example. Although
By providing a low friction layer such that friction between the movable electrode 121 and the substrate 100 can be reduced over the surface of the substrate 100, an advantageous effect of friction suppression can be further improved. As the low friction layer, a material including silicon such as silicon nitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon oxynitride, or silicon carbide, or Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) can also be used. Since DLC is minute, it has a high protective function.
Alternatively, the low friction layer can also be selectively formed in the region in which the micro structure 11 is formed even over the entire surface of the substrate 100. The low friction layer can be formed as the insulating surface of the substrate 100 as long as insulating properties are sufficient.
In addition, it is preferable that the low friction layer be provided not only over the surface of the substrate but also in a portion where the structural layers are adjacent to each other by electrostatic force or van der Waals force. For example, when a portion in which the low friction layer is provided is described as for the micro structure 21 of Embodiment Mode 2, the inside of the opening portion 230, a connection portion of the rotation axis 225 and the movable electrode 221, or the like correspond to the portion in the movable electrode 221. Further, in the micro structure 11 of Embodiment Mode 1, a portion in which the movable electrode 121 and the fixed electrode 122 are in contact with each other also corresponds to the portion.
When the layer which forms the micro structure has a shape in which there is a corner seeing from a top surface, it is preferable that the shape be processed by a photolithography process and an etching process so that the corner is rounded. The sacrificial layer is similar in this respect. Since generation of particles can be suppressed by processing into a round shape by removing a corner, a yield can be improved. Further, since stress concentration of the corner is relieved, a defect which is the cause of damage is hardly generated.
A micro electro mechanical device of the present invention including a micro structure belongs to a field of micro machines and has a size of a micrometer to a millimeter. In addition, when the micro electro mechanical device of the present invention is manufactured so as to be incorporated as a component of a certain mechanical device, it includes a size of a meter so that it can be easily dealt in incorporation in some cases.
A structural example of the micro electro mechanical device of the present invention including the micro structure is described with reference to
A micro electro mechanical device (a MEMS) 501 of the present invention is a device in which an electric circuit portion 502 including a semiconductor element and a structural portion 503 formed of the micro structure are combined. The electric circuit portion 502 includes a control circuit 504 which controls the micro structure, an interface 506 which communicates with an external control device 500, and the like. The structural portion 503 includes a sensor 505, an actuator 507, a switch, or the like depending on the micro structure. An actuator is an element which converts a signal (mainly, an electric signal) into a physical value. An electrostatic motor like those described in Embodiment Modes 1 and 2 can also be provided in the structural portion 503.
In addition, the electric circuit portion 502 can also include a central processing unit for processing data obtained by the structural portion 503, or the like.
In the external control device 500, an operation such as transmitting a signal which controls the micro electro mechanical device 501, receiving data obtained by the micro electro mechanical device 501, or supplying driving power to the micro electro mechanical device 501 is performed.
In addition, in the present invention, the semiconductor element which forms such an electric circuit and the micro structure can be formed over the same insulating surface. By forming over the same insulating surface, a poor connection of the electric circuit or the like and the micro structure can be reduced so that the yield can be improved.
Note that in a conventional method, in the case of dealing with a minute object which is a millimeter or less, a process is necessary in which a structure of the minute object is enlarged so that a human or a computer receives its data, performs data processing, and determines an operation, and then, the operation which is reduced is transmitted to the minute object. However, when only a broader concept instruction is transmitted by the human or the computer, the semiconductor device including the micro structure of the present invention can deal with a minute object. That is, when a purpose is determined and an instruction is transmitted by the human or the computer, the semiconductor device including the micro structure performs data processing by obtaining data on an object using a sensor or the like so that the semiconductor device can take action.
In Embodiment Modes 1 to 5, it is assumed that the objects are minute. For example, it is assumed that weak signals (e.g., slight changes in light or pressure) supplied from the objects, and the like are included although the object themselves have sizes of meters.
As described above, Embodiment Modes 1 to 6 can be combined as appropriate. For example, the shape of the movable electrode 121 shown in Embodiment Mode 1 can be processed into a shape like the movable electrode 221 shown in Embodiment Mode 2. On the contrary, the shape of the movable electrode 221 can be processed into a shape like the movable electrode 121.
In this embodiment, an example is described in which structural layers are formed of semiconductor layers having different crystalline structures as described in Embodiment Mode 2 and the like.
As described n Embodiment Mode 2 and the like, for example, silicon layers having different crystalline structures like a polycrystalline silicon layer and an amorphous silicon layer have different mechanical characteristics. Therefore, by stacking the silicon layers, a micro structure which is appropriate for various uses can be manufactured.
<Measurement of Complex Elastic Modulus and Indentation Hardness>
In order to examine difference in mechanical characteristics of silicon layers having different crystalline structures, measurement of complex elastic moduli and indentation hardness of an amorphous silicon layer formed by CVD and a crystalline silicon layer obtained by crystallizing amorphous silicon was performed. Here, the crystalline silicon layer was obtained by laser crystallizing an amorphous silicon layer using a metal element.
The amorphous silicon layer used as a sample was formed as follows. First, a silicon nitride layer having a thickness of 50 nm and a silicon oxide layer having a thickness of 100 nm were formed over a quartz substrate as base layers by CVD. Then, an amorphous silicon layer having a thickness of 66 nm was formed over the base layers by plasma CVD.
In addition, the crystalline silicon layer used as a sample was prepared as follows. An amorphous silicon layer having a thickness of 66 nm was formed by plasma CVD. Nickel was added to the amorphous silicon layer and the amorphous silicon layer was crystallized by using a continuous wave laser. Thickness of the crystalline silicon layer crystallized by laser irradiation was approximately 60 nm. A laser beam used for crystallization was a second harmonic wave of an Nd:YVO4 laser; energy density of the laser was controlled in a range of greater than or equal to 9 W/cm2 and less than or equal to 9.5 W/cm2; and scan speed was set to 35 cm/sec.
Measurement was performed by nano indentation measurement in which a triangular pyramid-shaped indenter was pushed into the sample. A measurement condition was simple indentation and an indenter which was used was a Berkovich indenter made of diamond. Therefore, an elastic modulus of the indenter was approximately 1000 GPa and a Poisson's ratio thereof was approximately 0.1.
A complex elastic modulus which was measured was represented by the following Formula 1 and was an elastic modulus in which an elastic modulus of the sample and the elastic modulus of the indenter were mixed. In Formula 1, Er corresponds to a complex elastic modulus; E corresponds to a Young's modulus; and ν corresponds to a Poisson's ratio. In addition, a first term of the formula (a term shown by “sample”) is a term to which the elastic modulus of the sample contributes and a second term of the formula (a term shown by “indenter”) is a term to which the elastic modulus of the indenter contributes.
As shown in Formula 1, the complex elastic modulus can be calculated from the sum of the first term to which the elastic modulus of the sample contributed and the second term to which the elastic modulus of the indenter contributed. However, since the elastic modulus of the indenter was extremely higher than that of the sample, the second term can be ignored and the complex elastic modulus approximately shown the elastic modulus of the sample.
Further, indentation hardness was hardness measured by an indentation method and can be calculated by dividing the maximum indentation weighting by a projection area in maximum indentation. Here, a projection area in indentation can be calculated by a geometric shape of the indenter and a contact depth when the sample was pushed by the indenter. This indentation hardness was multiplied by 76, so that indentation hardness can be dealt equally to Vickers hardness which was generally used as an index of hardness.
Measurement results of the complex elastic moduli and indentation hardness of the crystalline silicon layer and the amorphous silicon layer are shown in Table 1. Numeric values in Table 1 are an average value of three-times measurement results.
From the results shown in Table 1, crystalline silicon had a higher elastic modulus than that of amorphous silicon. That is, the results showed that crystalline silicon had higher strength for damage by bending than amorphous silicon when force bending a structure was applied. Further, the results showed that crystalline silicon was harder than amorphous silicon.
By stacking the semiconductor layers having different complex elastic moduli and hardness in this manner, structural layers having both strong flexibility and hardness toward bending force can be manufactured. For example, by stacking the amorphous silicon layer and the crystalline silicon layer used as the sample in this embodiment, damage was hardly spread over amorphous silicon even when damage was generated from a crystal defect of crystalline silicon, so that damage can be prevented from being caused to amorphous silicon. In this manner, balance between flexibility and hardness of the structural layers can be determined depending on a thickness ratio of stacked layers.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial No. 2006-196403 filed in Japan Patent Office on Jul. 19, 2006, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-196403 | Jul 2006 | JP | national |
This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/777,409, filed Jul. 13, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,642,114, which claims the benefit of a foreign priority application filed in Japan as Serial No. 2006-196403 on Jul. 19, 2006, both of which are incorporated by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 11777409 | Jul 2007 | US |
| Child | 12647704 | US |
