EP4212965A1 - Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhrenkomponente aus silizium - Google Patents
Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhrenkomponente aus silizium Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP4212965A1 EP4212965A1 EP22151563.8A EP22151563A EP4212965A1 EP 4212965 A1 EP4212965 A1 EP 4212965A1 EP 22151563 A EP22151563 A EP 22151563A EP 4212965 A1 EP4212965 A1 EP 4212965A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- silicon
- timepiece
- wafer
- deformation
- use according
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Pending
Links
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 title claims abstract description 56
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 title claims abstract description 52
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 52
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 18
- 238000007254 oxidation reaction Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 45
- 230000003647 oxidation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 41
- 229910021421 monocrystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000002019 doping agent Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-UHFFFAOYSA-N Boron Chemical compound [B] ZOXJGFHDIHLPTG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Phosphorus Chemical compound [P] OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052796 boron Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052698 phosphorus Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000011574 phosphorus Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 235000012431 wafers Nutrition 0.000 description 35
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 description 12
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 10
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 7
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 6
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 6
- 238000006073 displacement reaction Methods 0.000 description 5
- 229910052814 silicon oxide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 5
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 description 4
- OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Carbon Chemical compound [C] OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229910004298 SiO 2 Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 229910021417 amorphous silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005284 excitation Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000009499 grossing Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000010355 oscillation Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000001105 regulatory effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000002787 reinforcement Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229910052799 carbon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910021393 carbon nanotube Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000002041 carbon nanotube Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000919 ceramic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000006185 dispersion Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001459 lithography Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000003754 machining Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 210000000056 organ Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 238000000206 photolithography Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910021420 polycrystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002356 single layer Substances 0.000 description 1
- 125000006850 spacer group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
- G04B17/04—Oscillators acting by spring tension
- G04B17/06—Oscillators with hairsprings, e.g. balance
- G04B17/066—Manufacture of the spiral spring
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B1/00—Driving mechanisms
- G04B1/10—Driving mechanisms with mainspring
- G04B1/14—Mainsprings; Bridles therefor
- G04B1/145—Composition and manufacture of the springs
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B13/00—Gearwork
- G04B13/02—Wheels; Pinions; Spindles; Pivots
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B15/00—Escapements
- G04B15/14—Component parts or constructional details, e.g. construction of the lever or the escape wheel
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
- G04B17/04—Oscillators acting by spring tension
- G04B17/045—Oscillators acting by spring tension with oscillating blade springs
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
- G04B17/04—Oscillators acting by spring tension
- G04B17/06—Oscillators with hairsprings, e.g. balance
- G04B17/063—Balance construction
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
- G04B17/00—Mechanisms for stabilising frequency
- G04B17/20—Compensation of mechanisms for stabilising frequency
- G04B17/22—Compensation of mechanisms for stabilising frequency for the effect of variations of temperature
- G04B17/227—Compensation of mechanisms for stabilising frequency for the effect of variations of temperature composition and manufacture of the material used
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04D—APPARATUS OR TOOLS SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR MAKING OR MAINTAINING CLOCKS OR WATCHES
- G04D3/00—Watchmakers' or watch-repairers' machines or tools for working materials
Definitions
- the present invention relates to the field of manufacturing parts for watchmaking.
- the invention relates more particularly to a method for limiting the deformation of a silicon timepiece, in particular a silicon hairspring.
- the movements of mechanical watches are regulated by means of a mechanical regulator comprising a resonator, that is to say an elastically deformable component whose oscillations determine the rate of the watch.
- a mechanical regulator comprising a resonator, that is to say an elastically deformable component whose oscillations determine the rate of the watch.
- Many watches include, for example, a regulator comprising a hairspring as a resonator, mounted on the axis of a balance wheel and set in oscillation by means of an escapement.
- the natural frequency of the balance-spring couple makes it possible to regulate the watch and depends in particular on the stiffness of the balance-spring.
- the stiffness of the hairspring also defines its intrinsic vibratory characteristics, such as the natural frequency and the resonant frequencies.
- the natural frequency of an elastic system is the frequency at which this system oscillates when it is in free evolution, that is to say without exciting force.
- a resonance frequency of an elastic system subjected to an exciting force is a frequency at which a local maximum of displacement amplitude can be measured for a given point of the elastic system.
- the displacement amplitude slopes upward before this resonant frequency, and slopes downward afterwards, at any point that does not correspond to a node of vibration.
- the recording of the displacement amplitude as a function of the excitation frequency shows a displacement amplitude peak or resonance peak which is associated with or which characterizes the resonance frequency.
- the natural frequency of the regulator member formed by the balance spring of stiffness R coupled to a balance wheel of inertia I is in particular proportional to the square root of the stiffness of the balance spring.
- the main specification of a spiral spring is its stiffness, which must be within a well-defined range in order to be paired with a balance wheel, which forms the inertial element of the oscillator. This operation pairing is essential to precisely adjust the frequency of a mechanical oscillator.
- silicon hairsprings can be manufactured on a single wafer using micro-fabrication technologies. It is in particular known to produce a plurality of hairsprings in silicon with very high precision by using photolithography and machining/etching processes in a silicon wafer.
- the methods for producing these mechanical hairsprings generally use monocrystalline silicon wafers, but wafers made of other materials can also be used, for example polycrystalline or amorphous silicon, other semiconductor materials, glass, ceramic , carbon, carbon nanotubes or a composite comprising these materials.
- monocrystalline silicon belongs to the cubic crystalline class m3m whose coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) is isotropic.
- Silicon has a very negative value of the first thermoelastic coefficient, and consequently the stiffness of a silicon resonator, and therefore its natural frequency, varies greatly according to the temperature.
- the documents EP1422436 , EP2215531 And WO2016128694 describe a spiral-type mechanical resonator made from a core (or two cores in the case of WO2016128694 ) in monocrystalline silicon and whose variations in temperature of the Young's modulus are compensated by a layer of amorphous silicon oxide (SiO 2 ) surrounding the core (or cores), the latter being one of the rare materials having a thermoelastic coefficient positive.
- SiO 2 amorphous silicon oxide
- the document WO2019/180596 proposes to arrange the plates horizontally and on a support, making it possible to limit the deformations related to the own weight of the hairspring and to the heat.
- the applicants have found another unexpected solution to this problem.
- the solution identified can be generalized to other silicon timepieces for which it is essential to control the dimensions and manufacturing tolerances.
- the invention relates to a process for limiting the deformation of a silicon timepiece formed in a wafer, during thermal oxidation, characterized in that the thermal oxidation is carried out on a highly doped silicon timepiece.
- Another aspect of the invention relates to a use of a wafer comprising at least one layer of highly doped silicon, to limit the deformation of a timepiece formed in said highly doped silicon layer, during thermal oxidation.
- WO2019/180596 describes the steps that make it possible to etch watch components, particularly hairsprings, in a wafer (also called a wafer) of silicon. These lithography steps are well known to those skilled in the art and are incorporated by reference into the present application.
- This wafer can be of different types, comprising a single layer of silicon, or a layer of silicon arranged on a layer of silicon oxide (SOI), or several layers of silicon, with a layer of silicon oxide interposed between the silicon layers.
- SOI silicon oxide
- the component is etched in the silicon layer or in a group of silicon layers.
- Silicon can be of different natures, monocrystalline, polycrystalline or even amorphous.
- these oxidation steps are carried out in an oxidation furnace 10, at temperatures typically between 600° C. and 1300° C., which makes it possible to form a layer of silicon oxide (SiO 2 ) which covers the wafer and etched components, consuming silicon from the wafer.
- SiO 2 silicon oxide
- the wafers are loaded into the oven by being arranged horizontally.
- this solution cannot work for wafers 12 arranged vertically, in particular in furnaces 10 with horizontal loading, as represented on the figure 1 .
- the doping is high boron or phosphorus doping.
- high doping is meant an average concentration of dopant within the same wafer greater than 1x10 18 , more particularly greater than 1x10 19 , even more particularly greater than 5x10 19 atoms per cm 3 .
- a high doping can be defined as a doping corresponding to a resistivity smaller than 0.01 ohm.cm, or even a resistivity between 0.0045 and 0.0055 ohm.cm, even more particularly a resistivity of 0.005 ohm.cm.
- the effects of doping are particularly sensitive with hairsprings made of monocrystalline silicon, in particular having crystalline orientations ⁇ 100> or ⁇ 110>. It is in fact the types of silicon which are particularly subject to deformation during a thermal oxidation operation.
- the use of a highly doped silicon wafer makes it possible to avoid the deformations encountered with undoped silicon wafers, during thermal oxidation steps during which the wafers are arranged vertically, without having to flip or change the orientation of the wafers between successive oxidation steps.
- the effect is also obtained when the wafers are arranged horizontally, even if this deformation is less noticeable, the fact remains that the hairsprings can deform outside the plane of the wafer, under the effect of their weight, and that such deformation is also limited with heavily doped hairsprings.
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- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Metallurgy (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP22151563.8A EP4212965A1 (de) | 2022-01-14 | 2022-01-14 | Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhrenkomponente aus silizium |
EP23151601.4A EP4212966A1 (de) | 2022-01-14 | 2023-01-13 | Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhr aus silizium |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP22151563.8A EP4212965A1 (de) | 2022-01-14 | 2022-01-14 | Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhrenkomponente aus silizium |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP4212965A1 true EP4212965A1 (de) | 2023-07-19 |
Family
ID=79730216
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP22151563.8A Pending EP4212965A1 (de) | 2022-01-14 | 2022-01-14 | Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhrenkomponente aus silizium |
EP23151601.4A Pending EP4212966A1 (de) | 2022-01-14 | 2023-01-13 | Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhr aus silizium |
Family Applications After (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP23151601.4A Pending EP4212966A1 (de) | 2022-01-14 | 2023-01-13 | Verfahren zur begrenzung der verformung einer uhr aus silizium |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (2) | EP4212965A1 (de) |
Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1422436A1 (de) | 2002-11-25 | 2004-05-26 | CSEM Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique SA | Spiraluhrwerkfeder und Verfahren zu deren Herstellung |
EP2215531A1 (de) | 2007-11-28 | 2010-08-11 | Manufacture et fabrique de montres et chronomètres Ulysse Nardin Le Locle SA | Mechanischer oszillator mit einem optimierten thermoelastischen koeffizienten |
WO2016128694A1 (fr) | 2015-02-13 | 2016-08-18 | Tronic's Microsystems | Oscillateur mécanique et procédé de réalisation associe |
EP3159746A1 (de) * | 2015-10-19 | 2017-04-26 | Rolex Sa | Stark verbesserte siliziumfeder für uhr |
WO2019180596A1 (fr) | 2018-03-20 | 2019-09-26 | Patek Philippe Sa Geneve | Procede de fabrication de composants horlogers en silicium |
EP3709098A1 (de) * | 2019-03-14 | 2020-09-16 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Uhrenkomponente, uhrwerk und uhr |
CH716696A2 (fr) * | 2019-10-15 | 2021-04-15 | Sigatec Sa | Procédé de fabrication de spiraux horlogers. |
-
2022
- 2022-01-14 EP EP22151563.8A patent/EP4212965A1/de active Pending
-
2023
- 2023-01-13 EP EP23151601.4A patent/EP4212966A1/de active Pending
Patent Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1422436A1 (de) | 2002-11-25 | 2004-05-26 | CSEM Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique SA | Spiraluhrwerkfeder und Verfahren zu deren Herstellung |
EP2215531A1 (de) | 2007-11-28 | 2010-08-11 | Manufacture et fabrique de montres et chronomètres Ulysse Nardin Le Locle SA | Mechanischer oszillator mit einem optimierten thermoelastischen koeffizienten |
WO2016128694A1 (fr) | 2015-02-13 | 2016-08-18 | Tronic's Microsystems | Oscillateur mécanique et procédé de réalisation associe |
EP3159746A1 (de) * | 2015-10-19 | 2017-04-26 | Rolex Sa | Stark verbesserte siliziumfeder für uhr |
WO2019180596A1 (fr) | 2018-03-20 | 2019-09-26 | Patek Philippe Sa Geneve | Procede de fabrication de composants horlogers en silicium |
EP3709098A1 (de) * | 2019-03-14 | 2020-09-16 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Uhrenkomponente, uhrwerk und uhr |
CH716696A2 (fr) * | 2019-10-15 | 2021-04-15 | Sigatec Sa | Procédé de fabrication de spiraux horlogers. |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP4212966A1 (de) | 2023-07-19 |
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