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Investigation on the effects of low-temperature anodic bonding and its reliability for MEMS packaging using destructive and non-destructive techniques

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Abstract

Excellence in the performance of MEMS-based devices such as RF switches, microfluidics, and pressure sensors are well known and by now reported. Operations of these devices are very sensitive to the environmental factors such as contamination, humidity, vibrations etc. Thus, the integration of these micro-devices with the real-life systems could be challenging without a hermetic sealing. A very common practice for these sealing is to bond a recessed cap onto a micromachined wafer using low-temperature wafer bonding mechanism known as anodic bonding or high-temperature sealing techniques such as fusion bonding for vacuum packages. Considering the limit of high-temperature bonding due to thin-film metals like nickel and gold present on the wafer and the induced bow associated with this high-temperature, this paper reveals a devising electrode designed that successfully bonded the samples at a reduced temperature well below at 250 °C. The reliability and effects of this low-temperature bonding between the silicon and Pyrex glass using destructive and non-destructive mechanisms have been investigated in this paper. The tensile strength measurements indicated a superior bonding strength of 14.12 MPa for the sample bonded at 250 °C. The induced bow height reduced from 30.3 µm (at 450 °C) to 0.3 µm (at 250 °C) meaning a significant reduction of bow up to 80.2%. Elemental composition was studied at the interface using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). To evaluate the bond quality, infra-red (IR) imaging was performed on the bonded sample pair. The interfaces were examined and analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Finally, we implemented this technique for a MEMS based pressure sensor application to prove the feasibility of low-temperature anodic bonding.

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Acknowledgements

The Director, CSIR-CEERI, Pilani and Head of SNST, NIT Calicut, are thanked for their constant support and encouragement. The authors wish to thank and acknowledge the entire team of SNT and MEMS groups, CSIR-CEERI Pilani, for their support and wealthy discussions. The authors heartfully thank Dr. Ravindra Mukhiya for his constant support and discussions with IR instrument and images. Authors also heartfully thank Mr. Ranjan Maurya, Mr. Supriyo Das, Mr. Rajendra Varma, Mr. Sachin Dhariwal and Akash Sharma for their overwhelming support during our entire work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanomaterials and Devices Research Laboratory, School of Nano Science and Technology, NIT, Calicut, India

    Robin Joyce, Lokasani Bhanuprakash & Soney Varghese

  2. Sensors and Nanotechnology Group, CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani, India

    Robin Joyce, Deepak Kumar Panwar, Ravi Raj Bhatia & Jamil Akhtar

  3. Department of ECE, Viswajyothi College of Engineering and Technology, Vazhakulam, India

    Minu George

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  1. Robin Joyce
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  2. Minu George
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  3. Lokasani Bhanuprakash
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  4. Deepak Kumar Panwar
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  6. Soney Varghese
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  7. Jamil Akhtar
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Correspondence to Robin Joyce.

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Joyce, R., George, M., Bhanuprakash, L. et al. Investigation on the effects of low-temperature anodic bonding and its reliability for MEMS packaging using destructive and non-destructive techniques. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 29, 217–231 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-7908-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-7908-0

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