Stock material or miscellaneous articles – All metal or with adjacent metals – Composite; i.e. – plural – adjacent – spatially distinct metal...
Patent
1997-12-30
2000-08-15
Jones, Deborah
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
All metal or with adjacent metals
Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal...
428601, 428612, 428614, 428620, 428626, 428641, 428660, 428670, H01L 2106
Patent
active
061033995
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a method for the manufacturing of micromachined structures (micromachines) and to a micromachined structure manufactured using such method. The invention is specifically usable in connection with the manufacturing of micromachined structures which are at least partially releasable. More specifically, the invention relates to the manufacturing of (i) micromachined structures with partly freed bending parts, (ii) micromachined structures with completely freed movable parts, and (ii) micromachined structures (or parts thereof that can be taken completely off a manufacturing substrate.
BACKGROUND ART
In the following, reference will be made i.a. to the list of prior-art references Ref. 1-12 on pages 20 and 21. These references are hereby incorporated by reference.
Micromachining allows the manufacturing of e g sensors and actuators with dimensions of nanometers to centimeters. Specific examples of micromachined objects include motors, pumps, accelerometers, pressure sensors, chemical sensors, valves, micro-motion systems and grippers. Overall surveys of micromachining are found e.g. in Ref. 1, 2 and 3.
Micromachined structures can be divided into the following three general classes C1-C3: such as holes etched in silicon substrates for fuel injection nozzles, or channels etched in glass or silicon for applications such as electrophoresis and other types of chemical analysis. probe tips for atomic force microscopy and related microscopies, pressure sensors, accelerometers, cantilevered beams, and peristaltic pumps. As an analogy, such a structure may be like a diving board, having one side firmly attached to the ground beside the swimming pool and the other side extending over the water to bend. micromotors and comb drives. As an analogy, such a structure may be like a turntable, the spinning platter on which the record is placed corresponding to the completely freed part, whereas the part which attaches the platter to the turntable corresponds to another part of the structure attaching the freed part to the substrate.
The following three general classes of micromachining are known in the art: (1) surface micromachining, (2) bulk micromachining, and (3) LIGA and variations thereof. The fabrication sequence for the manufacture of a micromachine may include a combination of these techniques.
According to the first one of said techniques of micromachining--surface micromachining--layers are deposited and etched on one side of a wafer as disclosed in Ref. 4. Ref. 5 discloses an example of an organic microactuator manufactured according to this technique. Prior-art surface micromachining requires the selective etching of a temporary sacrificial layer in order to release a device or structure which has been patterned from overlying structural layers. Many combinations of sacrificial/structural layers are possible, as long as the underlying sacrificial layer can be preferentially removed. Sacrificial layers can be manufactured from diverse materials, typically SiO.sub.2 or phosphosilicate glass, but aluminum, photoresist, polyimide, porous silicon and others may also be used.
In contrast thereto, according to the second one of said techniques of micromachining--bulk micromachining--devices or structures are made directly from a silicon wafer or a wafers of another substrate material, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), by selectively removing unwanted parts from the front and/or back sides of the wafer by an etching process (Ref. 6). Bulk micromachining has been used for the manufacturing of micromachines such as membranes, pumps and accelerometers. Two or more substrates may also be bonded together and etched.
Surface and bulk micromachining methods are compared in Ref. 1 and Ref. 7.
The third one of said techniques of micromachining--LIGA and variations thereof comprises the steps of patterning a photoresist or some other suitable polymer using x-rays or ultraviolet light, and depositing material into the resulting holes in the resist by electroplating. This method, as such,
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Inganas Olle
Lundstrom Ingemar
Ohman Ove
Smela Elisabeth
Inganas Olle
Jones Deborah
Lundstrom Ingemar
Savage Jason
Smela Elisabeth
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