JP2011045119A - Piezoelectric vibrating-reed and method of processing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide such a method of processing a piezoelectric vibrating-reed that a connection part between the piezoelectric vibrating-reed and a wafer has sufficient strength after processing for outer shape by etching, and a part projecting from a visible outline of the piezoelectric vibrating-reed does not remain when the piezoelectric vibrating-reed from the wafer is folded and cut off. <P>SOLUTION: An outer shape of a crystal vibrating-reed is processed by photo-etching while a connection part 13 with a frame part 14 of a crystal wafer 11 is left. By half etching the connection part between a basis end 12a of the crystal vibrating-reed and the connection part from both sides, recessed grooves 16a, 16b are linearly formed to provide a thin part along the visible outline 15 of the crystal vibrating-reed. Both recessed grooves are disposed in the direction orthogonal to the width direction of the connection part while slightly shifting one recessed groove to a basis end side. After an electrode layer on the surface of a crystal element piece 12 in the state of a wafer is formed, each crystal vibrating-reed is made to separate from the wafer by folding and cutting off along the visible outline using the thin part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a piezoelectric vibrating piece mounted on a piezoelectric device such as a piezoelectric vibrator and a processing method thereof, and more particularly to a technique for processing the outer shape of a piezoelectric vibrating piece by photoetching a wafer made of a piezoelectric material such as quartz.

  Conventionally, piezoelectric fork resonators such as tuning-fork crystal resonators and AT-cut crystal resonators mounted on various piezoelectric devices are processed by photoetching on crystal wafers such as quartz and patterned on the surface. It is manufactured by doing. Specifically, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B, a large number of crystal element pieces 2 are attached to a crystal wafer 1 polished to a predetermined thickness by a connecting portion 3 at its base end 2a. The outer shape of the desired tuning-fork type crystal vibrating piece is processed so as to be connected and supported integrally with the remaining portion of the quartz wafer, that is, the frame portion 4. Next, after forming an electrode film on the surface of each crystal element piece 2 in this state, the individual crystal vibrating pieces are broken off from the connecting portion 3 and separated. In general, the connecting portion 3 is formed in a trapezoidal shape having the narrowest width so that the connecting portion 3 is easily bent along the outline 5 of the desired tuning-fork type crystal vibrating piece. The quartz crystal resonator element is broken by, for example, lowering the suction nozzle 6 from above, attracting the tip of the suction nozzle 6 and pulling it upward.

  However, the connecting portion 3 is broken not in the vicinity of the outline 5 but in the middle thereof due to the force applied to the connecting portion 3 or the like, and the projection 7 as shown in FIG. 9B is formed on the end side of the base end portion 2a. May remain. Such a quartz crystal vibrating piece makes it difficult to handle the protrusion 7 after being broken, and makes it difficult to accurately align or mount the piezoelectric device in a predetermined position when attempting to mount it on the package of the piezoelectric device, thereby lowering the positional accuracy. There is a fear.

  In order to solve such a problem, for example, the tuning fork type piezoelectric element described in Patent Document 1 has connection portions at both ends in the width direction of the base portion, and the width of the frame body between both connection portions is separated from the connection portion. Accordingly, the connecting portion is provided so as to be located above the bottom side of the base portion in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element piece. Further, in Patent Document 2, a plurality of crystal pieces are formed from one wafer by photo-etching so as to connect the base of the crystal piece and the crystal piece support portion of the frame body with an arc having a diameter of 50 μm or less. A crystal piece with a frame is described. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration in which two connecting portions are provided.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-112210 Japanese Utility Model Publication 2-98522

  Recently, however, the piezoelectric device is required to be further downsized, and in response to this, the crystal vibrating piece and the package are further downsized and thinned. For this reason, the mounting space inside the package is also limited, so if there are projections as described above on the quartz crystal piece broken from the wafer, it is not only difficult to accurately align to the specified position, but also in some cases. There is a problem that it becomes impossible to mount depending on. In addition, there is a risk that the handling of the quartz crystal vibrating piece may be hindered in the process after being broken, and workability and productivity may be reduced.

  On the other hand, in order to make the connecting portion easy to break, if the width at the connection portion with the base end portion of the quartz crystal vibrating piece is narrowed, it will be folded when handled in the wafer state in the process after the external processing of the quartz crystal vibrating piece, This causes a problem that smooth work is hindered and yield is reduced. Further, if there are two connection locations as described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, each connection location becomes narrower and more fragile due to the miniaturization of the crystal vibrating piece, and similarly in the wafer state. There is a risk that it may break during handling.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and its purpose is to cope with the miniaturization of the piezoelectric device and to handle it in a wafer state after the outer shape of the piezoelectric vibrating piece is processed. When separating from the wafer, it has a desired and substantially constant desired contour along the outer shape of the piezoelectric vibrating piece without causing projections that hinder mounting, alignment and handling on the package. It is an object of the present invention to provide a piezoelectric vibrating piece that can be folded in a shape, thereby achieving good workability and improving productivity and yield, and a processing method thereof.

  According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a piezoelectric element piece having the outer shape of a piezoelectric vibrating piece, a frame portion of the wafer, a piezoelectric element piece, for example, by photo-etching a wafer of piezoelectric material that is quartz In the processing step by photoetching, there are a step of processing a connecting portion that is connected to the wafer frame portion at the base end portion, and a step of separating the piezoelectric vibrating piece from the wafer frame portion by folding the connecting portion. The base end portion of the piezoelectric element piece has an outer shape provided with a recess inside the outermost contour line of the base end portion along the end side, and is formed so as to be connected to the connecting portion in the recess. In the connecting portion between the end portion and the connecting portion, a groove is formed on each side of the wafer in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the connecting portion, so that a thin portion thinner than the thickness of the base end portion and the connecting portion is formed at the front end. Formed along the outline of the part Processing method of the piezoelectric resonator element in which one groove is staggered on the base end portion side is provided.

  As a result, the connecting portion can easily and accurately fold the piezoelectric vibrating reed along the outer shape of the thin-walled portion having the lowest strength while maintaining a sufficient strength that does not easily break when handled in a wafer state. The end of the piezoelectric vibrating piece that can be broken can always have a substantially constant shape, and there is no possibility that the connecting portion remains as a protrusion.

  In one embodiment, the thin portion is provided so that both ends in the width direction are partially left at the connecting portion between the piezoelectric vibrating piece and the connecting portion with the same thickness as the base end portion and the connecting portion. The thin-walled portion has a reduced strength and is likely to be broken. However, since the strength of the connecting portion is maintained to some extent by leaving both end portions in the width direction as the original wafer thickness, an error may occur during handling of the wafer. This reduces the possibility that the piezoelectric vibrating piece is broken off. In addition, when the piezoelectric vibrating piece is folded, the portion left slightly at both ends in the width direction of the connecting portion is substantially reduced by arranging one groove of the thin portion slightly shifted toward the base end side. There is no risk of leaving small protrusions.

  In another embodiment, the thin portion is provided in the entire width along the connecting portion between the piezoelectric vibrating piece and the connecting portion, so that when the piezoelectric vibrating piece is broken from the connecting portion, the width direction of the connecting portion is There are no protrusions at both ends, and it can be reliably folded along the outer shape of the piezoelectric vibrating piece in a desired substantially constant shape. In order to maintain the strength of the connecting portion to some extent and eliminate the possibility that the piezoelectric vibrating piece is accidentally broken off during handling of the wafer, the thickness of the thin portion may be increased. .

  In one embodiment, the thin portion can be easily formed by half-etching both surfaces of the wafer.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a piezoelectric vibrating piece processed by the method of the present invention described above.

  According to the present invention, as described above, a piezoelectric vibrating reed that has been externally processed by photoetching on a wafer of piezoelectric material is folded along the outer shape of the piezoelectric vibrating reed at a connecting portion with the wafer at a thin-walled portion having the lowest strength. Therefore, even if the piezoelectric vibrating piece is miniaturized, the end of the broken piezoelectric vibrating piece is mounted on the package, aligned, and handled while the connecting portion has sufficient strength to handle in the state of a wafer. It becomes a substantially constant shape without producing a projection that hinders the operation. For this reason, during the processing of the piezoelectric vibrating piece and in the process after separation from the wafer, it is easy to handle and good workability can be ensured, and productivity and yield can be improved.

FIG. A is a partially enlarged plan view showing a tuning fork type crystal element piece, a connecting portion and a frame portion processed into a quartz wafer by the method of the present invention, FIG. B is a partially enlarged view showing an upper surface of the connecting portion, and FIG. The elements on larger scale which show the lower surface of D, D figure is the elements on larger scale in the DD line of B figure. FIGS. A and B are partially enlarged views showing an upper surface and a lower surface of a base end portion of a tuning-fork type crystal vibrating piece broken from a crystal wafer, respectively. FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a crystal resonator on which a tuning-fork type crystal vibrating piece processed according to the present invention is mounted, and FIG. FIG. 4A is a partially enlarged view showing the upper surface of a connecting portion with a tuning fork type crystal element piece processed into a quartz wafer in a modification of the present invention, FIG. B is a partially enlarged view showing the lower surface of the connecting portion, and FIG. FIG. 4D is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C of FIG. 2D, and FIG. FIG. A is a partially enlarged view showing the upper surface of the connecting portion with a tuning fork type crystal element piece processed into a quartz wafer in another modification of the present invention, FIG. B is a partially enlarged view showing the lower surface of the connecting portion, and FIG. FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. A, and FIG. FIG. A is a partially enlarged view showing a top surface of a connecting portion of a tuning fork type crystal element piece processed into a quartz wafer in a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. B is a partially enlarged sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. FIG. C is a partially enlarged view showing the upper surface of the base end portion of the quartz crystal vibrating piece broken off from the quartz wafer. FIG. A is a partially enlarged view showing a top surface of a connecting portion of a tuning-fork type crystal element piece processed into a quartz wafer in a modification of the second embodiment, and FIG. B is a partially enlarged sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. C is a partially enlarged view showing the upper surface of the base end portion of the quartz crystal vibrating piece broken off from the quartz wafer. FIG. A is a partially enlarged view showing the upper surface of a connecting portion of a tuning-fork type crystal element piece processed into a quartz wafer in another modification of the second embodiment, and FIG. B is a partially enlarged cross section taken along line BB in FIG. FIGS. C and C are partially enlarged views showing the upper surface of the base end portion of the quartz crystal vibrating piece broken off from the quartz wafer. FIG. A is a schematic perspective view for explaining a process of folding a tuning fork type crystal vibrating piece from a crystal wafer in the prior art, and FIG. B is a part showing a tuning fork type crystal element piece, a connecting part and a frame part processed on the crystal wafer. FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the shapes of a crystal element piece 12, a connecting portion 13, and a frame portion 14 processed on a crystal wafer 11 by applying the method of the present invention. The base end portion 12 a of the crystal element piece 12 is formed with a shallow trapezoidal recess 32 at the center along the end side 31, and is connected to the connecting portion 13 at the center. The connection part 13 is formed in the trapezoid shape where the connection part with the base end part 12a of the crystal element piece 12 makes the narrowest width | variety similarly to the prior art mentioned above. As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 has concave grooves 16a and 16b along the outer shape line 15 of the quartz crystal vibrating piece. Is provided. The concave grooves 16a and 16b are formed in a straight line, leaving a small portion at both ends in the width direction of the connection portion.

  Further, in this embodiment, as well shown in FIG. 1D, the concave line 16a of the upper surface 11a passes through the center of the outline 15 and the concave groove 16b passes through the connecting part 13 side with respect to the outline 15. As described above, the two concave grooves are slightly shifted in the direction perpendicular to the width direction. Further, the corners 17 at both ends in the width direction of the connecting part are not centered on the edge of the base end part 12a and the side of the connecting part 13 at an acute angle, but are substantially centered on the intersection. Cut into an arc.

  The quartz crystal resonator element of this example is processed using photoetching as follows. First, a metal thin film made of Cr, Au or the like is deposited as a corrosion-resistant film on the surface of a quartz wafer 11 having a predetermined thickness polished on both sides by deposition, sputtering, etc., and a resist film is applied thereon to apply a photolithography technique. After patterning the outer shape of the desired tuning-fork type quartz vibrating piece by the above, etching is performed with an appropriate etching solution such as hydrofluoric acid or ammonium fluoride to leave the connecting portion 13 with the frame portion 14 in FIG. A large number of crystal element pieces 12 are processed as described above with reference to FIG. Since each corner portion 17 at both ends of the connection portion is provided with the arc-shaped cut as described above, the back portion does not remain completely etched as in the case where the straight portion intersects at an acute angle, It can be etched almost completely into the desired shape.

  Next, with the resist film left, the grooves 16a and 16b are similarly patterned on both surfaces of the quartz wafer 11, and half-etched to an appropriate depth using an appropriate etching solution to form both grooves 16a. , 16b. When a desired electrode film is formed by depositing an electrode material on the surface of the crystal element piece 12 thus photo-etched by vapor deposition, sputtering or the like and patterning it by a photolithography technique, a crystal in which a large number of crystal vibrating pieces are arranged is arranged. The wafer is completed.

  For example, as described above with reference to the related art, the quartz crystal wafer is separated using a suction nozzle as shown in FIG. The crystal resonator element 18 is connected to the base end portion 12a as shown in FIGS. 2 (A) and 2 (B) by providing a thin-walled portion made of concave grooves 16a and 16b at the connecting portion with the connecting portion 13. It is separated from the portion 13 along the outline 15. At this time, on the edge of the base end portion 12a, the portions slightly left at both ends in the width direction of the connecting portion with the connecting portion 13 remain as small protrusions 19 at both ends of the grooves 16a and 16b. .

  According to the present embodiment, as described above, the thin protrusion 19 is formed by providing the thin portion at the connection portion with the coupling portion 13 of the crystal wafer 11 and breaking the crystal vibrating piece 18 from the crystal wafer at this portion. It always remains in the recess 32 at the end 31 of the base end portion 12a, that is, it remains in a small size so as not to exceed the outermost line 31a of the end 31 in the region of the recess 32. Therefore, even if the package and the quartz crystal resonator element are miniaturized particularly by downsizing and thinning of the piezoelectric device, there is no possibility of hindering the mounting, alignment and handling of the package as in the prior art.

  FIG. 3A shows a crystal resonator on which a tuning-fork type crystal resonator element 18 processed according to the first embodiment of the present invention described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and separated into individual pieces is mounted. Yes. The package 20 has, for example, a rectangular box-shaped base 21 in which ceramic thin plates are laminated, and a pair of connection terminals 23 are provided near one end at the bottom of a space 22 defined therein. Yes. The tuning fork type crystal vibrating piece 18 is mounted in a cantilever manner with a conductive adhesive 25 by electrically aligning a pair of lead electrodes 24 provided on the base end portion 12a with the corresponding connection terminals 23 and electrically. It is connected. The package 20 is hermetically sealed by bonding a thin plate-like lid 26 to the upper end of the base 21.

  In the quartz crystal resonator element 18 of the present embodiment, the base end portion 12a is cut off along the outline 15 as described above, and the small protrusion 19 remaining in the cut-out portion is outside the end side 31 of the base end portion 12a. Therefore, when this is mounted on the package 20, the end 31 of the base end portion 12 a can be disposed close to the adjacent inner wall 33 of the space 22 as shown in the figure. Therefore, the longitudinal dimension of the package 20 can be further reduced, and the package can be further reduced in size.

  Further, in the crystal resonator assembly process, a large number of tuning-fork type crystal vibrating pieces 18 broken from the crystal wafer are arranged and transported on a tray, and are picked up one by one from the tray and mounted on the base 21 of the package 20. In the crystal vibrating piece 18 of the present embodiment, the small protrusion 19 does not protrude from the end side 31 of the base end portion 12a, so that there is no possibility of being caught when the crystal vibrating piece is handled, and assembly work such as suction and mounting is easy. There are advantages. For this reason, even in the case of a particularly miniaturized package 20, it can be positioned in the restricted space 22 without any trouble and mounted at a desired position with high accuracy.

  Further, when the crystal vibrating piece 18 of the present embodiment is mounted on the base 21, the conductive adhesive 25 attached to each connection terminal 23 flows along the edge of the base end portion 12a. ), The small protrusion 19 serves as a stopper, so that it does not flow to the connection terminal 23 and the extraction electrode 24 on the opposite side. Therefore, even if the tuning fork type crystal vibrating piece 18 and the package 20 are miniaturized, it is possible to effectively prevent a short circuit between the connection terminals 23 and the lead electrodes 24 due to the conductive adhesive 25.

  FIG. 4 shows a modification of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. In this modified example, the grooves 16a and 16b provided on the upper and lower surfaces 11a and 11b of the wafer along the outer shape line 15 of the crystal vibrating piece at the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 are shown in FIGS. As shown in (C), all are different from the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 in that they are arranged so that the outline 15 passes through the center thereof. The concave grooves 16a and 16b are formed in a straight line, leaving a small portion at both ends in the width direction of the connection portion, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, and each corner at both ends in the width direction of the connection portion. The part 17 is provided with an arc-shaped cut.

  When an electrode film is formed on the crystal element piece 12 and then folded from the crystal wafer 11, the crystal vibrating piece 18 has a base end portion 12a extending from the connecting portion 13 to a substantially outline 15 as shown in FIG. Separated along. On the edge of the base end portion 12a, the portions slightly left at both ends in the width direction of the connecting portion with the connecting portion 13 leave the small protrusions 19 at both ends of the concave grooves 16a, 16b, but the concave grooves 16a, By aligning the position of 16b, it becomes smaller than the case of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and FIG. Accordingly, the small protrusion 19 of this embodiment always fits completely within the recess 32 at the end 31 of the base end portion 12a, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, and the outermost contour line of the end 31 Since it does not protrude beyond 31a, there is no risk of hindering mounting, positioning and handling to the package.

  FIG. 5 shows another modification of the first embodiment. In this modification, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the groove 16a provided in the wafer upper surface 11a at the connection portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 is centered on the quartz vibrating piece. Whereas the outer shape line 15 is arranged, the concave groove 16b of the wafer lower surface 11b is arranged at the center of the inner end of the base end portion 12a with respect to the outer shape line 15, and both are orthogonal to the width direction. This is different from the above-described embodiment in that it is slightly shifted in the direction of the movement. Similarly to the above embodiment, the concave grooves 16a and 16b are formed in a straight line, leaving a small portion at both ends in the width direction of the connection portion, and rounded at each corner 17 at both ends in the width direction of the connection portion. An arc-shaped cut is provided.

  After the electrode film is formed on the crystal element piece 12 and then folded from the crystal wafer 11, the crystal vibrating piece 18 has a base end portion 12a extending from the connecting portion 13 to a substantially outer line 15 as shown in FIG. Separated along. At this time, small protrusions 19 remain on both ends of the grooves 16a and 16b on the edge of the base end portion 12a due to the portions left slightly at both ends in the width direction of the connecting portion with the connecting portion 13. However, since the position of one of the concave grooves 16b is set to the inner side of the outer shape line 15, the small protrusion 19 is further smaller or substantially eliminated than in the above embodiments, so that the crystal vibrating piece 18 is mounted on the package. There is no risk of hindering handling such as positioning and positioning.

  According to the present invention, as described above, when one concave groove 16a is arranged so that the outline 15 of the crystal vibrating piece 18 passes through the center thereof, the position of the other concave groove 16b is the outline 15 (or one). The concave groove 16a) may be at the connecting portion 13 side, the inner side of the base end portion 12a, or a position coincident with each other. In any case, the end side of the base end portion 12a has a substantially constant shape as described above. The effects of the present invention can be obtained. In particular, the low-fluidity or low-viscosity conductive adhesive 25 is effective because it is difficult to flow to the opposite connection terminal 23 and extraction terminal 24 side when the crystal vibrating piece 18 is mounted using this. Further, when the positions of the concave grooves 16a and 16b are aligned, the strength of the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 is somewhat smaller with the same groove width and depth as compared with the case where the concave grooves 16a and 16b are aligned. Therefore, the crystal vibrating piece 18 can be easily broken off from the crystal wafer. On the contrary, when the positions of the concave grooves 16a and 16b are shifted in either direction, the strength of the connecting portion increases, so that there is little possibility that the crystal vibrating piece 18 is accidentally broken off during handling of the crystal wafer. .

  FIG. 6 shows a main part of a tuning-fork type crystal vibrating piece according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this second embodiment, as well shown in FIG. 6 (A), a groove 26a that linearly connects the corners 17 to the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a of the crystal vibrating piece 18 and the connecting portion 13. , 26b are formed on the upper and lower surfaces 11a, 11b along the outline 15 of the crystal vibrating piece. The concave grooves 26a and 26b of the present embodiment are narrower in width than the concave grooves 16a and 16b of the first embodiment, and therefore the depth thereof is also shallow. For this reason, the strength of the connecting portion is increased as compared with the case of the first embodiment, and the possibility of an accident that the crystal vibrating piece 18 is carelessly broken during handling of the crystal wafer is reduced. As shown in FIG. 6B, the concave groove 26a on one side, that is, the upper surface 11a is arranged so that the center thereof is substantially aligned with the outline 15 of the crystal vibrating piece 18, while the concave portion on the other side, that is, the lower surface 11 side. The groove 26b is arranged somewhat shifted from the outline 15 toward the connecting portion 13 as in the embodiment of FIGS.

  In this embodiment, when the quartz crystal resonator element 18 is broken from the connecting portion 13, the connecting portion is linearly cut along the outline 15 as shown in FIG. 6 (C), as in the first embodiment. Does not produce small protrusions. Instead, the connecting part remains slightly outward from the outline 15 over its entire width. The amount of protrusion from the outline 15 is determined by the magnitude of the deviation of the concave grooves 26a and 26b on the upper and lower surfaces 11a and 11b, but it is needless to say that it is smaller than the small protrusion 19 of the first embodiment. Accordingly, the quartz crystal resonator element 18 of the present embodiment is easier to handle after being broken from the quartz wafer than the first embodiment, and the workability in the assembly process of the quartz crystal unit is improved and miniaturized. The package 20 can be aligned and mounted at a desired position with high accuracy.

  7 and 8 show modifications of the second embodiment shown in FIG. In the modified example of FIG. 7, the groove 26 a on the upper surface 11 a is arranged so that the center thereof is substantially aligned with the outline 15 of the crystal vibrating piece 18, and the groove 26 b on the lower surface 11 b is located at the position. Are aligned with the concave groove 26a. For this reason, when the crystal vibrating piece 18 is broken from the crystal wafer, the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 is substantially along the outline 15 as shown in FIG. It cuts off linearly without leaving the small protrusion 19 like. Therefore, the protruding amount of the cut-out portion from the outline 15 is smaller than in the case of FIG. Further, since the strength of the connecting portion is smaller than that in the case of FIG. 6, it can be easily broken off from the quartz wafer.

  In the modification of FIG. 8, the concave groove 26 a on the upper surface 11 a is also arranged so that the center thereof is substantially aligned with the outer shape line 15 of the crystal vibrating piece 18, whereas the concave groove 26 b on the lower surface 11 b is more than the outer shape line 15. The base end portion 12a is displaced from the inside. For this reason, when the quartz crystal resonator element 18 is broken from the quartz wafer, the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 is located on the inner side of the case of FIGS. 6 and 7, as shown in FIG. Then, along the substantially outline 15, it is cut off in a straight line without leaving the small protrusion 19 as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the protruding amount of the separation portion from the outline 15 is further smaller than that in the case of FIG. 7, and is substantially zero. For this reason, handling after being broken off from the quartz wafer is easy, workability when assembling the quartz oscillator is improved, and even in a miniaturized package, highly accurate alignment and mounting are possible.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the present invention can be carried out with various modifications and variations within the technical scope thereof. . For example, a thin portion is provided in the connecting portion between the base end portion 12a and the connecting portion 13 with various shapes and structures other than the concave grooves 16a and 16b, such as a small continuous recess, and the connecting portion It is possible to always fold off the connecting portion in a substantially constant shape. Furthermore, the present invention can be similarly applied to a crystal vibrating piece other than a tuning fork type and a piezoelectric vibrating piece other than quartz as long as the outer shape is processed by photoetching.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,11 ... Crystal wafer, 2,12 ... Crystal element piece, 2a, 12a ... Base end part, 3,13 ... Connection part, 4,14 ... Frame part, 5,15 ... Outline line, 6 ... Suction nozzle, 7 ... Projection, 11a ... Upper surface, 11b ... Lower surface, 16a, 16b ... Ditch, 17 ... Corner, 18 ... Crystal vibrating piece, 19 ... Small projection, 20 ... Package, 21 ... Base, 22 ... Void, 23 ... Connection Terminals, 24 ... extraction electrodes, 25 ... conductive adhesive, 26 ... lid, 31 ... end side, 31a ... outermost line, 32 ... dent.

Claims (7)

A piezoelectric element piece having an outer shape of a piezoelectric vibrating piece by photo-etching a wafer of piezoelectric material, a frame portion of the wafer, and a connecting portion for connecting the piezoelectric element piece to the frame portion at a base end portion thereof. A step of processing, and a step of separating the piezoelectric vibrating piece from the frame portion by folding a connection portion between the base end portion and the connecting portion,
In the processing step by photoetching, the connecting portion is provided with a thin groove portion that is thinner than the thickness of the base end portion and the connecting portion, by forming grooves on both sides of the wafer in a straight line. It is formed along the outer shape of the end, and one of the grooves is arranged to be shifted toward the base end in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the connecting portion with respect to the other of the grooves. A method for processing a piezoelectric vibrating piece. In the processing step by the photoetching, the base end portion of the piezoelectric element piece has an outer shape in which a recess is provided inside the outermost line of the base end portion along the end side, and the connection is made in the recess The method for processing a piezoelectric vibrating piece according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric vibrating piece is formed so as to be connected to a portion. The thin-walled portion is provided so as to partially leave both ends in the width direction at the connecting portion between the piezoelectric vibrating piece and the connecting portion with the same thickness as the base end portion and the connecting portion. The method of processing a piezoelectric vibrating piece according to claim 1 or 2. 3. The method for processing a piezoelectric vibrating piece according to claim 1, wherein the thin-walled portion is provided in a full width at a connection portion between the piezoelectric vibrating piece and the connecting portion. 5. The method for processing a piezoelectric vibrating piece according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed by half-etching both surfaces of the wafer. 6. The method for processing a piezoelectric vibrating piece according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric material is quartz. A piezoelectric vibrating piece processed by the method according to claim 1.

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