JPH06235670A - Semiconductor pressure sensor module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a semiconductor pressure sensor module in which cost, size and the number of components can be reduced while facilitating mass production. CONSTITUTION:The housing is constituted of a combination of upper and lower housings 1, 2 having inner faces formed with circuit patterns 1a, 2a. A sensor chip comprising a semiconductor chip 6 and a glass base 5 is placed in a recess made in the center on the inside of the lower housing 2 and a strain-sensitive element provided on the surface of the semiconductor chip 6 is electrically connected with the circuit pattern 2a through a wire 7. The lower housing 2 is provided with a pressure introduction hole 2c at a position matching with a hole of the glass base 5. Furthermore, a connector 4 is formed integrally with the lower housing 2 and the terminal 3 of the connector 4 is electrically connected with the circuit pattern 2a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor pressure sensor module used for pressure measurement in home air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, water heaters and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional semiconductor pressure sensor module.

The housing is constructed by combining an upper housing 51 and a lower housing 52, and inside the housing (on the lower housing 52 side) is a circuit board 55 on which a pressure sensor 50, a connector (receiving side connector) 54, etc. are mounted. It is fixed. The connector 54 is led out to the outside of the housing, and is connected to a connector (insertion side connector) that makes a pair with the connector 54.

The pressure sensor 50 comprises a semiconductor chip 6 and a sensor chip composed of a glass pedestal 5 supporting the semiconductor chip 6 housed in a package composed of a stem 59a and a cap 59b. Figure 10
It is sectional drawing which shows a sensor chip. The semiconductor chip 6 is made of single crystal silicon, and an elastic diaphragm 6a formed by thinning the wafer is provided at the center thereof. A piezoresistive element (distortion element) is provided on the surface of the diaphragm 6a. The bottom edge of the semiconductor chip 6 is joined and fixed to the glass pedestal 5. Also, the glass pedestal 5 has
A hole 5a is provided for connecting the space surrounded by the diaphragm 6a and the glass pedestal 5 to the outside.

The glass pedestal 5 is bonded onto the stem 59a, and the piezoresistive element formed on the surface of the diaphragm 6a is electrically connected via a wire 7 to a terminal 60 standing on the stem 59a. Further, the stem 59a is provided with a hole corresponding to the hole 5a of the glass pedestal 5, and the pipe 5 communicating with this hole is provided below the stem 59a.
8 are provided.

The pressure sensor 50 having the above structure is
The pipe 58 is inserted through a hole provided in the circuit board 55, and the terminal 60 is soldered to a predetermined circuit pattern and mounted on the circuit board 55. The terminal 60 is the circuit board 5
5 is electrically connected to the terminal 53 of the connector 54 via the circuit pattern provided on the connector 5.

The pipe 58 of the pressure sensor 50 is connected to a pressure introducing hole 52c provided in the lower housing 52. An O-ring 56 is arranged at a connecting portion between the pipe 58 and the pressure introducing hole 52c so as to maintain airtightness at the connecting portion. Reference numeral 57 is a fixing member for fixing the O-ring 56.

In the semiconductor pressure sensor module having such a structure, when pressure is applied to the semiconductor chip 6 through the pressure introducing hole 52c provided in the lower housing 52, the diaphragm 6a is deformed, and the surface of the diaphragm 6a is deformed. The resistance value of the piezoresistive element provided at the position changes. A signal based on the change in the resistance value of the piezoresistive element is transmitted to the outside through the pattern wiring provided on the circuit board 55 and the connector 54.

There is also a semiconductor chip in which electronic circuits such as an amplifier and a temperature compensation circuit are integrated and provided around the diaphragm.

[0010]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional semiconductor pressure sensor module, since the number of parts is large, the assembly process is complicated, mass production is difficult, and the product cost is reduced and the product is downsized. There is a problem that it is difficult. Further, in the conventional semiconductor pressure sensor module, the O-ring 56 is designed to maintain the airtightness at the connecting portion between the pressure introducing hole 52c and the pipe 58, but leakage of the pressure medium easily occurs at this connecting portion. Another disadvantage is that the pressure to be measured may not be accurately transmitted to the sensor chip.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, has a small number of parts, and can be easily mass-produced.
(EN) Provided is a highly reliable semiconductor pressure sensor module, which facilitates downsizing of a product and reduction of a product cost, and also easily maintains airtightness between a pressure introduction hole provided in a housing and a sensor chip. The purpose is to

[0012]

A semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention includes a housing having a predetermined circuit pattern formed on the inner surface thereof, a sensor chip mounted on the inner surface of the housing, and the housing integrally formed with the housing. And a formed connector.

[0013]

In the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention, the circuit pattern is formed on the inner surface of the housing, and the sensor chip is directly mounted on the inner surface of the housing. Further, in the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention, the connector is formed integrally with the housing. Therefore, in the present invention, the circuit board which has been conventionally required is not necessary, and the number of parts at the time of assembly can be reduced. Therefore, mass production is easy, reduction in product cost can be realized, and product miniaturization is easy. Further, since the sensor chip is bonded to the inner surface of the housing, the pipe for connecting the sensor chip and the pressure introducing hole of the housing and the connecting portion between the pipe and the pressure introducing hole are hermetically sealed. No O-ring or the like is required, the possibility of leakage of the pressure medium is extremely low, and the pressure to be measured can be accurately transmitted to the sensor chip. Therefore, the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention has high reliability.

By the way, in the present invention, the inner surface of the housing needs to be insulative in order to form the circuit pattern on the inner surface of the housing. In this case, when the electromagnetic shield layer made of a conductive material is provided in the housing to electromagnetically cut off the electric circuit in the housing from the outside, effects such as noise reduction and electromagnetic interference prevention can be obtained. Therefore, it is preferable to provide an electromagnetic shield layer made of a conductive material on the housing. As the electromagnetic shield layer, for example, the outer surface of the housing may be made of a conductive material such as metal, and the outer surface of the housing may be an electromagnetic shield layer.

Further, for example, when there is a pressure introducing hole on the surface opposite to the sensor chip mounting surface in the housing, a partition is provided in the housing, and the space in which the circuit pattern is provided by the partition and the sensor. It is preferable to airtightly separate from the space where the chips are arranged. Accordingly, even when the pressure introducing hole is provided on the surface opposite to the sensor chip mounting surface in the housing, a connecting member such as a pipe that connects the pressure introducing hole and the sensor chip is not necessary.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The housing is constructed by combining an upper housing 1 and a lower housing 2, and predetermined circuit patterns 1a and 2a are formed on the inner surface of the housing by a conductive material. The circuit patterns 1a and 2a of the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 are electrically connected by a connecting member 9 to form a predetermined circuit.

In the sensor chip composed of the semiconductor chip 6 and the glass pedestal 5 (see FIG. 10), the hole of the glass pedestal 5 is aligned with the pressure introduction hole 2c in the concave portion provided in the central portion inside the lower housing 2. Is installed in this way. The strain sensitive element provided on the surface of the semiconductor chip 6 is electrically connected to the circuit pattern 2 a via the wire 7. A connector (receiving connector) 4 formed integrally with the lower housing 2 is provided on a side portion of the lower housing 2, and the circuit pattern 2a is electrically connected to a terminal 3 of the connector 4. ing. A locking projection 4a for locking a connector (insertion side connector) that engages with the connector 4 is provided on the outer periphery of the connector 4.

2 (a) and 2 (b) are enlarged views of the portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The sensor chip is
As shown in FIG. 2A, a metal thin film 8 is formed on the bottom surface of the concave portion of the lower housing 2 by a method such as sputtering or vapor deposition, and the metal thin film 8 is joined (die-bonded) with solder, or As shown in FIG. 2 (b), they are joined with silicon resin or epoxy resin.

In this embodiment, the sensor chip is directly bonded to the inner surface of the housing, the strain sensitive element is electrically connected to the circuit pattern 2a through the wire 7, and
The connector 4 is formed integrally with the lower housing 2. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the circuit board which has been conventionally required is unnecessary. Further, since the sensor chip is directly joined to the lower housing 2, a connecting member such as a pipe and a sealing member such as an O-ring for connecting the pressure introducing hole of the housing and the sensor chip are unnecessary. Therefore, the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present embodiment has a smaller number of parts when assembled than the conventional one. For example, in the conventional semiconductor pressure sensor module shown in FIG. 9, the number of parts at the time of assembly is eight, whereas in the present embodiment, three parts are sufficient. Therefore, the size of the device can be easily reduced, mass production can be easily performed, and the product cost can be reduced. Further, there is an effect that the time required for manufacturing is shorter than that in the conventional case and the lead time (the preceding period to be arranged early in the schedule planning) can be shortened. Further, in this embodiment, since the sensor chip is directly bonded to the inner surface of the housing,
There is an extremely low possibility that the pressure medium leaks, and the pressure to be measured can be accurately transmitted to the sensor chip.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment is particularly applicable to EMI (Electromagnetic Interferenc).
e) The measures are taken into consideration.

The housing is constructed by combining the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12. The housings 11 and 12 are made of metal on the outside and insulating resins 11b and 12b on the inside. Then, predetermined circuit patterns 11a and 12a are formed on the surfaces of the resins 11b and 12b. When the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 are combined, a part of the housing constitutes the connector 14. The terminal 13 of the connector 14 is electrically connected to the circuit pattern 12a of the lower housing 12. In addition, the circuit pattern 11a of the upper housing 11
The circuit pattern 12a of the lower housing 12 is electrically connected by the conductive connecting member 19 to form a predetermined circuit.

The sensor chip composed of the semiconductor chip 6 and the glass pedestal 5 is bonded to the inner central portion of the lower housing 12 in a region not covered with the resin 12b. Further, the lower housing 12 is provided with a pressure introduction hole 12c at a position aligned with the hole of the glass pedestal 5, as in the first embodiment.

4 (a) and 4 (b) are enlarged views of the portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, the housings 11 and 12 and the terminal 13 are insulated from each other by an insulating material 15 made of glass or ceramic, or as shown in FIG.
b and 12b extend to the outside to electrically insulate the outer surfaces of the housings 11 and 12 from the terminals 13. That is,
As shown in FIG. 5, the housings 11 and 12 and the terminal 13 form a coupling capacitance (capacitor) C. External noise can be attenuated by this coupling capacitance.

In this embodiment, since the housing outer surface is made of metal, the housing outer surface acts as an electromagnetic shield layer, and the electric circuit in the housing is electromagnetically shielded from the outside. Therefore, in this embodiment,
In addition to obtaining the same effect as the first embodiment, it is possible to obtain the effect that external noise and electromagnetic interference can be reduced.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to a third embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a differential pressure type semiconductor pressure sensor module.

In this embodiment, the upper housing 21
And the lower housing 22 both have pressure introducing holes 21c, 2
2c is provided. The sensor chip composed of the semiconductor chip 6 and the glass pedestal 5 is mounted on the lower housing 2
In the center of the inside of 2, the hole of the glass pedestal 5 and the pressure introducing hole 22
It is arranged so as to be aligned with c. The sensor chip is partitioned from the room in which the circuit patterns 21a and 22a are formed by the upper partition plate 21d and the lower partition plate 22d provided in the housings 21 and 22, respectively. The airtightness is maintained between the upper partition plate 21d and the lower partition plate 22d by an O-ring or resin. The strain sensitive element provided on the surface of the semiconductor chip 6 has the circuit pattern 22a via the lead 25 that penetrates the wire 7 and the partition plate 22d.
Electrically connected to. Further, in this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, when the upper housing 21 and the lower housing 22 are combined, a part of the housing constitutes the connector 24.

In the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to this embodiment, the difference between the pressure applied from the upper side of the sensor chip via the pressure introducing hole 21c and the pressure applied from the lower side of the sensor chip via the pressure introducing hole 22c. Detect pressure.
Similar to the first embodiment, the present embodiment has the advantages that the number of parts at the time of assembly is small, mass production is easy, product cost can be reduced, and the device can be downsized. .

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a top pressure type semiconductor pressure sensor module.

The housing is composed of an upper housing 31 and a lower housing 32, and predetermined circuit patterns 31a and 32a are provided on the inner surface thereof.
In this embodiment, the upper housing 31 is provided with the pressure introducing hole 31c. The sensor chip composed of the semiconductor chip 6 and the glass pedestal 5 is arranged in the center of the inside of the lower housing 32, and the upper partition plate 31.
d and the lower partition plate 32d, the circuit pattern 31
It is separated from the room where a and 32a are provided. The strain-sensitive element provided on the surface of the semiconductor chip 6 is electrically connected to the circuit pattern 32a via the lead 35 that penetrates the wire 7 and the partition plate 32d. An O-ring or resin is used to maintain airtightness between the upper partition plate 31d and the lower partition plate 32d.

Also in this embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment, when the upper housing 31 and the lower housing 32 are combined, a part of the housing constitutes the connector 34. Terminal 3 of this connector 34
3 is electrically connected to the circuit pattern 32a of the lower housing 32.

The pressure sensor according to this embodiment is used as an absolute pressure sensor for measuring the pressure applied to the sensor chip from above the sensor chip via the pressure introducing hole 31c. Also in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a fifth embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a water level sensor.

The housing is constructed by combining an upper housing 41 and a lower housing 42, and predetermined circuit patterns 41a, 42a are formed on the inner surface thereof. The connector 44 is formed integrally with the lower housing 42 and extends downward from the lower surface of the lower housing 42. The terminal 43 of this connector 44
Are electrically connected to the circuit pattern 42a. The sensor chip composed of the semiconductor chip 6 and the glass pedestal 5 is mounted in a recess provided in the inner center of the lower housing 42. This sensor chip is separated from the room in which the circuit patterns 41a and 42a are provided by the upper partition plate 41d and the lower partition plate 42d. The strain sensitive element provided on the surface of the semiconductor chip 6 is electrically connected to the circuit pattern 42a via a lead 45 that is provided so as to penetrate the wire 7 and the partition plate 42d. The upper housing 41 is provided with an opening 41c through which the sensor chip is exposed, and the gel material 46 is loaded in the opening 41c.

In the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to this embodiment having the above structure, the pressure is the gel substance 4
Via 6 to the sensor chip. Therefore, in this embodiment, the sensor chip can be prevented from directly contacting water (or other liquid). Also in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the semiconductor pressure sensor module having the sensor chip equipped with the glass pedestal is explained, but the thermal strain caused by the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the semiconductor chip and the housing is described. If it is not necessary to consider the influence of, the semiconductor chip may be directly die-bonded to the housing.

[0038]

As described above, in the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention, the circuit pattern is formed on the inner surface of the housing, the sensor chip is mounted on the inner surface of the housing, and the connector is connected to the housing. Since it is integrally formed, the number of parts at the time of assembly can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional case. Therefore, the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention can be easily mass-produced, the product cost can be reduced, and the device can be easily downsized. There is also an effect that the lead time can be shortened. Further, in the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to the present invention, since the housing and the sensor chip are directly joined, a connecting member such as a pipe for connecting the pressure introducing hole of the housing and the sensor chip and an O-ring or the like. Since there is no need for a seal member, the possibility of leakage of the pressure medium is extremely low, the pressure to be measured can be accurately transmitted to the sensor chip, and the reliability is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 (a) and 2 (b) are each an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a chain line in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 (a) and 4 (b) are each an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a portion surrounded by a chain line in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor pressure sensor module according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional semiconductor pressure sensor module.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a sensor chip.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11, 21, 31, 41; upper housing 1a, 2a, 11a, 12a, 21a, 22a, 31
a, 32a, 41a, 42a; circuit pattern 2, 12, 22, 32, 42; lower housing 2c, 12c, 21c, 22c, 52c; pressure introducing hole 3, 13, 23, 33, 43; terminal 4, 14, 24, 34, 44; Connector 5; Glass pedestal 6; Semiconductor chip 7; Wires 21d, 22d, 31d, 32d, 41d, 42d; Partition plate 41c; Opening portion 46; Gel-like substance

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor pressure device, comprising: a housing having a predetermined circuit pattern formed on an inner surface thereof; a sensor chip mounted on an inner surface of the housing; and a connector integrally formed with the housing. Sensor module. 2. The housing is provided with an electromagnetic shield layer made of a conductive material, and an electric circuit in the housing is electromagnetically shielded from the outside by the electromagnetic shield layer. Item 2. The semiconductor pressure sensor module according to Item 1. 3. The housing is provided with a partition for airtightly partitioning a space in which the circuit pattern is provided and a space in which the sensor chip is provided. Or the semiconductor pressure sensor module according to 2.