PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15981327
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-05
Publication Date: 2018-12
Patent Classification: ["438", "050000"]

Abstract:
The disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing recessed micromechanical structures in a MEMS device wafer. First vertical trenches in the device wafer define the horizontal dimensions of both level and recessed structures. The horizontal face of the device wafer and the vertical sidewalls of the first vertical trenches are then covered with a self-supporting etching mask which is made of a self-supporting mask material, which is sufficiently rigid to remain standing vertically in the location where it was deposited even as the sidewall upon which it was deposited is etched away. Recess trenches are then etched under the protection of the self-supporting mask. The method allows a spike-preventing aggressive etch to be used for forming the recess trenches, without harming the sidewalls in the first vertical trenches.

Claim (Index 1):
A method for manufacturing micromechanical structures in a device wafer, wherein the manufactured structures include at least one level micromechanical structure which is level with regard to a horizontal face of the device wafer, and at least one recessed micromechanical structure which is recessed with regard to the horizontal face of the device wafer, and the method comprises the steps of:\n a) patterning two or more etching masks on the horizontal face of the device wafer, wherein a level etching mask defines at least the horizontal dimensions of the level micromechanical structures, and one or more recess etching masks which define at least the horizontal dimensions of the recessed micromechanical structures, b) etching first vertical trenches in the regions of the device wafer which are not protected by either the level or recess etching masks, c) removing one recess etching mask from the horizontal face of the device wafer, d) covering the horizontal face of the device wafer and the vertical sidewalls of the first vertical trenches with a self-supporting etching mask which is made of a self-supporting material, e) removing the self-supporting etching mask from horizontal surfaces of the device wafer, so that the unprotected horizontal regions from which the self-supporting etching mask and one recess etching mask were removed define the horizontal dimensions of recessed micromechanical structures, f) etching second vertical trenches in the unprotected horizontal regions, whereby the depth of the second vertical trenches forms at least a part of the recess depth of a recessed micromechanical structure, and g) removing the level etching mask and the self-supporting etching mask from the device wafer.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 23.0
- Percentile: 93.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.90141
- Patent Class: 438.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: none
- Component Type: 0
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['15147233', '14712987', '15147197', '14706095', '11322842']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8779161284038833
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5172577599387813
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8418502915573732
- Mean Citation Score: 257.380142
- Max Citation Score: 317.59726
- Similarity Product: 253.21305803703785

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test