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Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors
The reach and impact of the Internet of Things will depend on the availability of low-cost, smart sensors—“low cost” for ubiquitous presence, and “smart” for connectivity and autonomy. By using wafer-level processes not only for the smart sensor fabrication and integration, but also for packaging, w...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2016
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5134478/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27809249 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s16111819 |
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author | Hilton, Allan Temple, Dorota S. |
author_facet | Hilton, Allan Temple, Dorota S. |
author_sort | Hilton, Allan |
collection | PubMed |
description | The reach and impact of the Internet of Things will depend on the availability of low-cost, smart sensors—“low cost” for ubiquitous presence, and “smart” for connectivity and autonomy. By using wafer-level processes not only for the smart sensor fabrication and integration, but also for packaging, we can further greatly reduce the cost of sensor components and systems as well as further decrease their size and weight. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in the wafer-level vacuum packaging technology of smart sensors. We describe the processes needed to create the wafer-scale vacuum microchambers, focusing on approaches that involve metal seals and that are compatible with the thermal budget of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits. We review choices of seal materials and structures that are available to a device designer, and present techniques used for the fabrication of metal seals on device and window wafers. We also analyze the deposition and activation of thin film getters needed to maintain vacuum in the ultra-small chambers, and the wafer-to-wafer bonding processes that form the hermetic seal. We discuss inherent trade-offs and challenges of each seal material set and the corresponding bonding processes. Finally, we identify areas for further research that could help broaden implementations of the wafer-level vacuum packaging technology. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5134478 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-51344782017-01-03 Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors Hilton, Allan Temple, Dorota S. Sensors (Basel) Review The reach and impact of the Internet of Things will depend on the availability of low-cost, smart sensors—“low cost” for ubiquitous presence, and “smart” for connectivity and autonomy. By using wafer-level processes not only for the smart sensor fabrication and integration, but also for packaging, we can further greatly reduce the cost of sensor components and systems as well as further decrease their size and weight. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in the wafer-level vacuum packaging technology of smart sensors. We describe the processes needed to create the wafer-scale vacuum microchambers, focusing on approaches that involve metal seals and that are compatible with the thermal budget of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits. We review choices of seal materials and structures that are available to a device designer, and present techniques used for the fabrication of metal seals on device and window wafers. We also analyze the deposition and activation of thin film getters needed to maintain vacuum in the ultra-small chambers, and the wafer-to-wafer bonding processes that form the hermetic seal. We discuss inherent trade-offs and challenges of each seal material set and the corresponding bonding processes. Finally, we identify areas for further research that could help broaden implementations of the wafer-level vacuum packaging technology. MDPI 2016-10-31 /pmc/articles/PMC5134478/ /pubmed/27809249 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s16111819 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Hilton, Allan Temple, Dorota S. Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors |
title | Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors |
title_full | Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors |
title_fullStr | Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors |
title_full_unstemmed | Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors |
title_short | Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaging of Smart Sensors |
title_sort | wafer-level vacuum packaging of smart sensors |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5134478/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27809249 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s16111819 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT hiltonallan waferlevelvacuumpackagingofsmartsensors AT templedorotas waferlevelvacuumpackagingofsmartsensors |