An All-Silicon Process Platform for Wafer-Level Vacuum Packaged MEMS Devices

• Published in: IEEE sensors journal 2021-07, Vol.21 (13), p.13958-13964
• Main Authors: Torunbalci, Mustafa Mert, Gavcar, Hasan Dogan, Yesil, Ferhat, Alper, Said Emre, Akin, Tayfun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Gettering; MEMS devices; Microelectromechanical systems; Micromechanical devices; Q-factor; Resonators; Sensors; Silicon; through silicon via (TSV); Through-silicon vias; Wafer level vacuum packaging
• ISSN: 1530-437X; 1558-1748
• DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2021.3073928

Thispaper introduces a novel, inherently simple, and all-silicon wafer-level fabrication and hermetic packaging method developed for MEMS devices. The proposed method uses two separate SOI wafers to form highly-doped through-silicon vias (TSVs) and suspended MEMS structures, respectively. These SOI wafers are then bonded by Au-Si eutectic bonding at 400 °C, achieving hermetic sealing and signal transfer without requiring any complex via or trench refill process steps. The package vacuum is measured using encapsulated MEMS resonators to be as low as 15 mTorr with the help of successfully activated thin-film getters. The combined fabrication and packaging yield is around %89 and chips still maintain a package pressure below 100 mTorr after more than 6 years. The packages show an extremely high strong bonding strength (>40 MPa) and are proved to remain hermetic after temperature cycling (25 °C-85 °C) and harsh temperature shock (5 min@300 °C) tests. The all-silicon MEMS resonators fabricated and packaged using the proposed method project up to a 2.3\times enhancement in the bias instability and \sim 4\times in the temperature sensitivity of frequency output compared to an identical MEMS resonator fabricated using the silicon-on-glass (SOG) technology.