JP2005135232A - Ic tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC tag capable of transmitting/receiving data to/from the external and storing data updating history to be informed and having heat resistance. <P>SOLUTION: The IC tag is constituted so that an integrated circuit provided with a receiving circuit, a transmitting circuit, a storage circuit, and an operation circuit is sealed with glass or ceramics so as to transmit/receive signals to/from the external by electromagnetic waves or supersonic waves. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC tag, and more particularly to an IC tag that can be transmitted / received to / from the outside and further has improved heat resistance.

  For example, in order to simplify the distribution status of products or billing systems, IC tags equipped with integrated circuits are being attached to products, etc., and are “Ubiquitous ID Center” in Japan and Massachusetts in the United States. The “Auto ID Center” centering on the Technical University (MIT) is proceeding with standardization, and some of them are put into practical use. Recently, a non-contact IC tag that has an antenna coil and transmits / receives stored data to / from an external receiving device has been developed and attracts attention (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  These IC tags are made of silicon IC on the assumption that they are used in a normal product distribution environment, and the package is also made of a plastic that is durable up to about 150 ° C. In addition, since the wiring material used for the IC tag is not particularly required to have high temperature durability, aluminum is often used in consideration of the price and workability. However, since aluminum has a melting point of 660.2 ° C, the temperature durability of aluminum itself is considered to be around 400 ° C where self-diffusion occurs, but in fact, it is thought that interdiffusion with silicon occurs at a lower temperature than that, It cannot be used for applications exposed to temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius. For example, processing processes such as glass, plastics, metals, ceramics, rubber, and wood are high-temperature processes of 200 ° C. or higher, exceeding the heat resistance temperature of silicon ICs and aluminum wiring.

  Therefore, in such a high-temperature processing process, conventionally, a temperature detector commercially available from Micron Corporation under the trade name “Heat Label” is attached to the surface of the glass or the inner wall of the processing apparatus, The temperature is detected. This “heat label” is obtained by applying a chemical substance that changes color depending on temperature to a metal having good thermal conductivity such as aluminum, and has a function of determining the maximum temperature achieved by coloring. However, since only the maximum temperature can be detected, there is insufficient information to obtain accurate processing conditions, and after use, it is the usual usage that is peeled off and discarded, so know the change over time after making the workpiece. For example, it is not a criterion for determining whether or not recycling is possible.

  The “Glass Tag” manufactured by Sokimat Co., Switzerland is an IC tag that can read and write process data wirelessly during painting and chemical cleaning in a temperature environment up to 90 ° C. This glass tag is constructed by coating the IC chip with glass, and it protects the environment from baking coating, protects the IC chip from chemically active liquids, or prevents deterioration such as oxidation due to high ambient gas. be able to. And this glass tag is immersed in a cleaning solution or an etching solution in a cleaning or etching process, and is used for detecting a deterioration state of the cleaning solution or the etching solution. For this reason, this glass tag is not used by being embedded in a workpiece, and the action that the workpiece is actually subjected to cannot be detected. In addition, it is not possible to know a change with time after making a processed product.

  Furthermore, since this glass tag is durable at 90 ° C. for up to 1000 hours, it cannot be used for manufacturing glass, ceramics, metal, heat-resistant plastic parts, and wooden parts.

JP 2001-325572 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide an IC tag having heat resistance, capable of transmitting / receiving data to / from the outside, knowing a data update history, and the like. To do.

The present invention is characterized in that an integrated circuit including a receiving circuit, a transmitting circuit, a memory circuit, and an arithmetic circuit is sealed with glass or ceramics, and signals are transmitted to and received from the outside by electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves. An IC tag is provided.
Further, the present invention provides the above IC tag in which the electromagnetic wave is light and is sealed with light-transmitting glass or ceramics.
Also provided is the IC tag including at least one of a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a magnetic field sensor, and an element or molecule sensor.
Further, the IC tag for storing a history of data transmitted and received by the storage circuit is provided.
The integrated circuit is formed of silicon, a III-V compound compound, silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), zinc oxide (ZnO), aluminum nitride (AlN), tin nitride (SnN), or diamond. The IC tag is provided.
Also, the wiring material of the integrated circuit is Fe, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Rh, or an alloy based on these metals. The above IC tag is provided.
Furthermore, the IC tag is provided in which each circuit and each sensor are covered with a heat-resistant protective film made of silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon carbide (SiC), or gallium nitride (GaN).

  Since the IC tag of the present invention is excellent in heat resistance, it can be sufficiently used in high-temperature processes that could not be used conventionally, such as processes for processing glass members, plastic members, ceramic members, rubber members, wood members, and metal members. It is. And, the temperature, strain, pressure and specific substance concentration that these workpieces actually undergo during processing are detected, the history data is stored, and if necessary, not only can be read from the outside in a non-contact manner, By writing or erasing process control data in a non-contact manner, data can be exchanged between the member and the control system of the processing apparatus, so that the workpiece can be processed under optimum conditions. . Further, even after the processing is completed, the IC tag is kept in the processed product, and distribution management of the product to which the processed product is applied is also possible.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

  The IC tag of the present invention is obtained by sealing an integrated circuit including a receiving circuit, a transmitting circuit, a memory circuit, and an arithmetic circuit with glass or ceramics. Glass or ceramics may be transparent or opaque. Each of these circuits has a small difference in thermal expansion from glass or cement as a sealing material, so silicon, III-V compound, silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), zinc oxide (ZnO), nitride It is preferably made of aluminum (AlN), tin nitride (SnN) or diamond. Each of these circuits is formed on a quartz substrate or sapphire substrate by a known photolithography process.

  The reception circuit and the transmission circuit are configured to perform transmission and reception with the outside using electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves. These communication media are appropriately selected according to the usage form of the IC tag and the member to be mounted. For example, an IC tag made of gallium nitride transmits and receives data using light with a wavelength of 400 to 550 nm. For processing plastics that absorb light of this wavelength in an embedded state, Not available. For this reason, it is necessary to perform transmission and reception with ultrasonic waves.

  As the electromagnetic wave, light or a radio wave having a frequency of 0.1 to 10 GHz is used.

  When light is used as a medium, various photodiodes can be used for the receiving circuit and the transmitting circuit, and can be appropriately selected according to the wavelength of the light used, but the difference in thermal expansion coefficient from glass or ceramics is small. Various photodiodes made of a -V group compound semiconductor are preferable. It is preferable that the electromagnetic wave is light and sealed with light-transmitting glass or ceramics because signal transmission and reception can be performed with light.

  When radio waves are used as a medium, an antenna coil can be used for the reception circuit and the transmission circuit, and the antenna length, the coil width, and the like are appropriately selected according to the frequency used. The antenna material is Fe, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Rh or each of these metals as a base material in consideration of heat resistance. It is preferable to use an alloy.

  In addition, when an ultrasonic wave is used as a medium, a piezoelectric ceramic can be used.

  The storage circuit stores lot numbers and data necessary for process control. The IC tag of the present invention preferably includes at least one of a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a gas or molecular sensor, and the storage circuit stores data detected by each of these sensors.

  The storage circuit preferably has a function of storing a change history of data transmitted / received to / from the outside through the reception circuit and the transmission circuit.

  The sensors are not limited as long as they can be integrated with other circuit elements, but can be configured as follows, for example. As the pressure sensor, a Ta resistor can be used. This Ta resistor has the property that the electrical resistance changes when it expands and contracts, and this change in electrical resistance can be detected as a change in current (voltage) value. As the temperature sensor, a thin film thermocouple of Pt—PtRh can be used. As the magnetic field sensor, an MI magnetic field difference sensor having two heads composed of an exciting coil or an amorphous wire magnetic body can be used. The element or molecule sensor is appropriately selected according to the gas or molecule to be detected. For example, by using a solid electrolyte membrane, moisture and oxygen concentration (oxygen potential) can be detected from an equilibrium equation of water, oxygen and hydrogen. .

  In addition, a sensor can be appropriately selected and used according to the process. For example, a strain sensor made of a rhodium (Rh) resistor thin film can be incorporated, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

  The arithmetic circuit performs a predetermined calculation based on data in the memory circuit and data detected by various sensors, and outputs the calculation result to the outside through the transmission circuit. In addition, an external signal received by the receiving circuit is sent to the memory circuit to rewrite data.

  In addition, considering the heat resistance, the wiring materials connecting the above receiving circuit, transmitting circuit, memory circuit, arithmetic circuit and various sensors are Fe, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, Nb, Mo, Tc, It is preferable to use Ru, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Rh, or an alloy based on these metals.

  The above receiving circuit, transmitting circuit, memory circuit, arithmetic circuit and various sensors are integrated and sealed with glass or ceramics. Since glass and ceramics have the same thermal expansion coefficient as that of integrated circuit materials up to about 800 ° C., the IC tag of the present invention can withstand high-temperature processing steps at about 200 ° C. or more, 1 atmosphere or more, or reduced pressure. It becomes like this. Note that the thickness of the glass and ceramics for sealing is not limited, and is appropriately selected in consideration of the dimensions and applications of the IC tag.

  In order to further improve the heat resistance in the above sealing, the receiving circuit, transmitting circuit, memory circuit, arithmetic circuit and various sensors are made of silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon carbide (SiC). ), And a heat-resistant protective film made of gallium nitride (GaN), and the top is preferably sealed with glass or ceramics. The coating with the heat-resistant protective film can be performed by a known vapor deposition method (for example, sputtering). Moreover, although there is no restriction | limiting in the film thickness of a heat-resistant protective film, 0.01-1 micrometer is suitable.

  The IC tag of the present invention is configured as described above. As a specific embodiment thereof, an example applied to manufacture of a glass plate by a float method and manufacture of a window glass for an automobile will be shown.

  GaN light-emitting diodes are used as receiving circuits and transmitting circuits, and all of the memory circuits and arithmetic circuits are made of silicon and integrated on a sapphire single crystal substrate. Furthermore, Ta resistors as pressure sensors and Pt-PtRh as temperature sensors As a thin film thermocouple and an oxygen sensor, a zirconia thin film stabilized with calcium oxide is incorporated and integrated, and the surfaces of the memory circuit and the arithmetic circuit are covered with GaN having a thickness of 0.1 μm to produce an IC chip. The wiring material is Mo. Then, the IC chip is sandwiched between two glass plates each having a thickness of about 100 μm and 4 mm square made of glass manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (catalog number ASF1700), and melted and sealed. The obtained IC tag has a maximum thickness of 320 μm including the encapsulated glass. The IC tag is made of stainless steel, accommodated in a cartridge configured to extrude the IC tags one by one from the opening at the tip, and used for the glass plate manufacturing process.

  When manufacturing a glass plate, first, a needle-shaped indenter is pressed against the surface of the glass plate in a molten state and pulled up suddenly. Thereby, the outer periphery of the part which contacted the indenter on the surface of the glass plate raised slightly, and a recessed part is formed. Next, the tip of the cartridge is brought close to the recess, the IC tag is pushed out from the opening at the tip, and is put into this recess. Thereafter, the IC tag is automatically embedded in the vicinity of the glass surface in the process of flattening with a roller.

  Here, since the glass plate by the float method is usually cooled and cut and then the surface is polished, it is necessary to make the embedding depth in anticipation of the polishing white. Moreover, a dimension and thickness differ also with an application. Therefore, when the IC tag is embedded in the glass plate, the viscosity of the glass, the pressing amount of the indenter, the pressing of the roller, and the like are appropriately adjusted in consideration of these.

  Also, the IC tag can be embedded in the glass plate by the following method. The IC tag is supplied from the cartridge to the molten glass plate surface and placed, and immediately thereafter, the IC tag is covered with a thin cover glass plate (about 100 μm) having the same composition as the glass plate. Since this cover glass has the same composition as the glass plate at a high temperature, it is bonded to the glass plate with the IC tag sandwiched therebetween. And in the process of flattening with a roller, it is automatically suppressed by the roller and the IC tag is embedded in the vicinity of the glass surface.

  On the other hand, in order to perform transmission / reception with the IC tag, the stretching device side can transmit and receive light, radio waves or ultrasonic waves according to the transmission circuit and reception circuit of the IC tag, and reception. A device, in this example a transmitter device and a receiver device comprising a GaN light emitting diode, is mounted.

  In the production of glass plates by the float process, the IC tags are distorted because they are subjected to compressive stress during the cooling process in the rare (slow cooling furnace) of the glass plates, that is, the glass base material covering the IC tags is subjected to compressive force. To do. The compression force at this time is detected by a pressure sensor incorporated in the IC tag, and the detected actual pressure can be sent from the GaN light emitting diode to the stretching device, and the stretching device can be adjusted to an optimum stretching process accordingly. .

  Specifically, the electrical resistance of the Ta resistor, which is a pressure sensor, changes due to expansion and contraction due to strain, and the amount of change in the current (voltage) value associated therewith is converted to a digital signal by an AD conversion circuit, and the data is stored Send to. When the magnitude of the distortion (electric resistance value) at this time approaches the specified distortion range (resistance value) stored as a default value in the memory circuit, the differential control function of the IC tag arithmetic circuit is activated and an alarm signal is generated. Is transmitted from the GaN light emitting diode of the IC tag. And in an extending | stretching apparatus, in order to slow down a slow cooling rate, temperature is raised or a slow cooling apparatus is controlled so that the moving speed of a glass plate may be reduced.

  Further, the actual temperature of the glass plate is simultaneously detected by the temperature sensor of the IC tag, the data is transmitted to the stretching apparatus, and the slow cooling furnace is controlled so that the stretching apparatus side has a preset glass temperature.

  Further, the oxygen sensor simultaneously detects the oxygen concentration in the glass, transmits the data to the stretching apparatus, and the stretching apparatus side controls the atmosphere so that the oxygen temperature is set in advance.

  Thus, since the glass plate is stretched under optimum processing conditions based on the actual pressure, glass temperature, and oxygen concentration detected by the IC tag, the obtained glass plate has excellent characteristics.

  Next, two automotive window glass plates are cut out from the glass plate and joined with a transparent adhesive. In this joining step, a transparent adhesive is injected into the gap between the two glass plates, and is thermally compressed in a pressure furnace to be integrated as a laminated glass. IC tags are embedded in each of the two glass plates, and temperature history and strain data in the stretching process are stored, so additional changes in strain generated during the pressurizing process of the pressurizing furnace are added as data. In addition, the residual strain after bonding is also stored. After this joining process is completed, the window glass with a curved surface conforming to the design is fitted into the frame of the automobile. At this time, the window glass fitting conditions can be performed under the optimum conditions based on the data obtained above. it can.

  In addition, by burying the IC tag in the window glass, data indicating changes with time can be collected. Therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent damage or the like by reading the data periodically, such as at the time of vehicle inspection. Furthermore, when it becomes a situation to consider disposal or recycling, the residual strain data can be used as a guideline for judging the possibility of reuse.

Claims (7)

  An IC tag, wherein an integrated circuit including a receiving circuit, a transmitting circuit, a memory circuit, and an arithmetic circuit is sealed with glass or ceramics, and signals are transmitted to and received from the outside by electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves.   2. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic wave is light and is sealed with light-transmitting glass or ceramics.   The IC tag according to claim 1 or 2, comprising at least one of a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a magnetic field sensor, and an element or molecule sensor.   The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the storage circuit stores a history of data transmitted and received.   The integrated circuit is formed of silicon, III-V compound semiconductor, silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), zinc oxide (ZnO), aluminum nitride (AlN), tin nitride (SnN), or diamond. The IC tag according to any one of 1 to 4.   Wiring materials for integrated circuits are Fe, Ni, Cu, Co, Cr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Rh, or alloys based on these metals. The IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   Each circuit and each sensor are covered with a heat-resistant protective film made of silicon oxide (SiOx), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon carbide (SiC), or gallium nitride (GaN). The IC tag described.