Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7227433?dq=7,172,682
Timestamp: 2016-02-07 11:20:42
Document Index: 778248170

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 250', 'art 250', 'art 250', 'art 250', 'art 260', 'art 260', 'art 260']

Patent US7227433 - Electro mechanical device having a sealed cavity - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsBriefly, embodiments of the present invention provide an electro-mechanical device, for example, a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) device, for example, a low-loss Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBAR) filter, and a process to produce the same....http://www.google.com/patents/US7227433?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7227433 - Electro mechanical device having a sealed cavityAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7227433 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/813,026Publication dateJun 5, 2007Filing dateMar 31, 2004Priority dateMar 31, 2004Fee statusPaidAlso published asCN1938945A, EP1735908A1, EP1735908B1, US20050224900, WO2005104361A1Publication number10813026, 813026, US 7227433 B2, US 7227433B2, US-B2-7227433, US7227433 B2, US7227433B2InventorsEyal Ginsburg, Alexander Talalyevsky, Eyal Bar-SadehOriginal AssigneeIntel CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (9), Non-Patent Citations (6), Referenced by (8), Classifications (20), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetElectro mechanical device having a sealed cavity
US 7227433 B2Abstract
Briefly, embodiments of the present invention provide an electro-mechanical device, for example, a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) device, for example, a low-loss Film Bulk Acoustic Resonators (FBAR) filter, and a process to produce the same.
Electro-mechanical devices, for example, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices may include ultra-small mechanical components.
FIGS. 3A–3I are schematic illustrations of a MEMS device at different stages in the process of FIG. 2.
Although the present invention is not limited in this regard, the term “MEMS device” as used herein may be understood to include, among other things, any suitable Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems device, for example, a Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator (FBAR) filter, a FBAR Radio Frequency (RF) filter, a RF switch, a varactor, a tunable capacitor, or any other MEMS device where it may be relevant to apply the principles of the present invention. Although an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a FBAR RF filter, it is presented herein only as an example of applying the principles of the present invention to a MEMS device; the present invention is not limited in this regard, and its principles may be applied to other suitable MEMS devices.
It will be appreciated that the term “sealed cavity” as used herein may refer to a cavity being isolated, i.e., fluidically disconnected, from an environment, for example, air surrounding an element containing the cavity, such that any contents of the sealed cavity may not be in direct contact with the environment.
Reference is made to FIG. 2, which schematically illustrates a flowchart of a process for producing a MEMS device, for example, device 100 (FIG. 1) according to exemplary embodiments of the invention, and to FIGS. 3A–3I, which schematically illustrate exemplary stages in the process of FIG. 2 and exemplary components useful in understanding the process.
Although the present invention is not limited in this regard, the term “producing” as used herein with reference to an item, may be understood to include, inter alia, manufacturing or assembling the item, providing a pre-fabricated item, or processing a partly formed item.
As indicated at block 204 of FIG. 2, the process may also include depositing a layer of a sacrificial material onto base structure 242, for example, using a suitable spin coating process, as is known in the art. According to some exemplary embodiments of the invention, the sacrificial material may include the Unity™ sacrificial polymer available from Promerus Electronic Materials of Ohio, USA, or any other suitable sacrificial material, e.g. polymer. As shown in FIG. 3B, a resulting part 250 of the above operations may include a layer 251 of the sacrificial material filling recesses 245. Layer 251 may additionally cover at least some of protrusions 243. According to exemplary embodiments of the invention, the process may also include performing a solvent flash process including, for example, heating part 250 to a temperature of approximately 100� C. for approximately 5 seconds, for example, by placing part 250 on a hotplate. The process may also include performing a cure process, for example, as is known in the art, to prevent oxidation of layer 251. The cure process may include, for example, heating part 250, for example, in a N2 atmosphere, to a temperature of approximately 300� C. for approximately two hours.
As indicated at block 210 of FIG. 2, the process may continue with removing the sacrificial material encapsulated between layer 261 and base structure 242. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, removing the sacrificial material may include causing at least part of the sacrificial material to permeate through selectively permeable cap layer 261. Although the present invention is not limited in this regard, causing at least part of the sacrificial material to permeate through the cap layer may include, for example, heating part 260. For example, part 260 may be placed in a furnace, for example, a Nitrogen or Hydrogen Quartz tube furnace as is known in the art, at a temperature suitable for transforming the sacrificial material into a gaseous form. For example, part 260 may be heated to a temperature of approximately 400� C. if a Unity™400 sacrificial polymer is used. It will be appreciated that any other suitable methods may be implemented for removing at least most of the sacrificial material, for example, if a different sacrificial material, cap layer and/or base substrate are used. As shown in FIG. 3E, a resulting support structure 265 of the above operations may include one or more sealed cavities 262 encapsulated between cap layer 261 and base structure 242.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5373268 *Feb 1, 1993Dec 13, 1994Motorola, Inc.Thin film resonator having stacked acoustic reflecting impedance matching layers and methodUS5692279 *Aug 17, 1995Dec 2, 1997MotorolaMethod of making a monolithic thin film resonator lattice filterUS6081171 *Apr 8, 1998Jun 27, 2000Nokia Mobile Phones LimitedMonolithic filters utilizing thin film bulk acoustic wave devices and minimum passive components for controlling the shape and width of a passband responseUS6469761 *Sep 25, 2000Oct 22, 2002Georgia Tech Research Corp.System and method for efficient manufacturing of liquid crystal displaysUS6509813 *Jan 16, 2001Jan 21, 2003Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd.Bulk acoustic wave resonator with a conductive mirrorUS6657363 *Nov 8, 2000Dec 2, 2003Infineon Technologies AgThin film piezoelectric resonatorUS6870445 *Mar 27, 2003Mar 22, 2005Kabushiki Kaisha ToshibaThin film bulk acoustic wave resonatorUS20030047450Dec 11, 2001Mar 13, 2003Yang Hae SikMicroelectrode, microelectrode array and method for manufacturing the microelectrodeUS20040021191Jul 30, 2002Feb 5, 2004Bradley Paul D.Electrostatic discharge protection of thin-film resonators* Cited by examinerNon-Patent CitationsReference1"IEEE Electron Device Letters", vol. 21, No. 12, Dec. 2000, 2 pages.2Fukang J. et al., "A Flexible MEMS Technology and its First Applications to Shear Stress Sensor Skin", Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1997, MEMS 97, Proceedings, IEEE, Tenth Annual International Workshop on Nagoya, Japan, Jan. 26-30, 1997, New York, NY, USA, IEEE, pp. 465-470.3International Search Report for PCT/US2005/006721, mailed on Jun. 29, 2005.4Kohl et al., "Air-gaps in 0.3 mum Electrical Interconnections", IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 21, No. 12, Dec. 2000, pp. 557-559.5Lutsky J.J. et al., "A sealed cavity TFR process for RF bandpass filters", Electron Devices Meeting, 1996, International San Francisco, CA, USA, Dec. 8-11, 1996, New York, NY, USA, IEEE, USA, pp. 95-98.6Tsamis et al., "Fabrication of Suspended Porous Silicon Micro-hotplates for Thermal Sensor Applications", Porous Silicon Science and Technology Conference, PSST 2002, Mar. 10-15, 2002, Tenerife, Spain, pp. 1-13.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7436271 *Nov 3, 2006Oct 14, 2008Cornell Research Foundation, Inc.Dielectrically transduced single-ended to differential MEMS filterUS7456707 *Aug 2, 2005Nov 25, 2008Panasonic CorporationResonator and filter using the sameUS7456709 *Apr 5, 2006Nov 25, 2008Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Bulk acoustic resonator including a resonance part with dimple and fabrication method thereforUS9225311Feb 21, 2012Dec 29, 2015International Business Machines CorporationMethod of manufacturing switchable filtersUS20060038636 *Aug 2, 2005Feb 23, 2006Naohiro TsurumiResonator and filter using the sameUS20070008050 *Apr 5, 2006Jan 11, 2007Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Bulk acoustic resonator including a resonance part with dimple and fabrication method thereforUS20070103258 *Nov 3, 2006May 10, 2007Dana WeinsteinDielectrically transduced single-ended to differential mems filterUS20150256143 *Mar 4, 2014Sep 10, 2015Qualcomm IncorporatedResonator with a staggered electrode configuration* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification333/187, 310/324, 333/189International ClassificationH03H3/007, H03H9/54, H03H9/02, H03H3/02, H03H9/17, H03H9/58Cooperative ClassificationH03H2003/027, H03H9/02244, H03H2009/241, H03H3/02, H03H2009/02511, H03H3/0072, H03H9/587European ClassificationH03H3/02, H03H9/02M, H03H9/58F4A, H03H3/007MLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 31, 2004ASAssignmentOwner name: INTEL CORPORATION, CALIFORNIAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:GINSBURG, EYAL;TALALYEVSKY, ALEXANDER;BAR-SADEH, EYAL;REEL/FRAME:015165/0052Effective date: 20040331Dec 3, 2010FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Nov 19, 2014FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services