KR100748145B1 - Method of Fabricating Devices Incorporating Microelectromechanical Systems Using at Least One UV Curable Tape - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a microelestromechanical system (MEMS) using a tape cured by ultraviolet radiation, comprising positioning a MEMS layer 18 disposed on one side 12 of the substrate 14 on a substrate 14. It relates to a method of manufacturing a device comprising a. At least one operation is performed on the substrate 14 from the surface 22 of the substrate 14 opposite to the surface 12 having at least the MEMS layer 18. A fixing tape 38 is attached to the surface 22 of the substrate. Thereafter, at least one operation is performed on the additional layer 10 to form individual chips 20. Each chip 20 consists of a portion of the substrate 24, at least one MEMS layer 18, and a portion of the additional layer 10. The individual chips 20 can then be separated from the tape 38 by exposure to ultraviolet light.

MEMS, Chips, Substrates, Ultraviolet Light, Curing, Adhesion, Fixing Tape, Fixing Means, Separation

Description

Method of Fabricating Devices Incorporating Microelectromechanical Systems Using at Least One UV Curable Tape}

The present invention relates to the manufacture of a device comprising a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS), and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a MEMS device using at least one UV curable tape. For simplicity, the device is referred to hereinafter as the MEMS device, and the part of the device including the micro electro mechanical system is referred to as the MEMS layer.

Applications filed together

Various methods, systems, and apparatuses in accordance with the present invention are disclosed in the following application filed concurrently with the present application by the applicant or successor.

PCT / AU00 / 00518, PCT / AU00 / 00519, PCT / AU00 / 00520, PCT / AU00 / 00521, PCT / AU00 / 00522, PCT / AU00 / 00523, PCT / AU00 / 00524, PCT / AU00 / 00525, PCT / AU00 / 00526, PCT / AU00 / 00527, PCT / AU00 / 00528, PCT / AU00 / 00529, PCT / AU00 / 00530, PCT / AU00 / 00531, PCT / AU00 / 00532, PCT / AU00 / 00533, PCT / AU00 / 00534, PCT / AU00 / 00535, PCT / AU00 / 00536, PCT / AU00 / 00537, PCT / AU00 / 00538, PCT / AU00 / 00539, PCT / AU00 / 00540, PCT / AU00 / 00541, PCT / AU00 / 00542, PCT / AU00 / 00543, PCT / AU00 / 00544, PCT / AU00 / 00545, PCT / AU00 / 00547, PCT / AU00 / 00546, PCT / AU00 / 00554, PCT / AU00 / 00556, PCT / AU00 / 00557, PCT / AU00 / 00558, PCT / AU00 / 00559, PCT / AU00 / 00560: PCT / AU00 / 00561, PCT / AU00 / 00562, PCT / AU00 / 00563, PCT / AU00 / 00564, PCT / AU00 / 00565, PCT / AU00 / 00566, PCT / AU00 / 00567, PCT / AU00 / 00568, PCT / AU00 / 00569, PCT / AU00 / 00570, PCT / AU00 / 00571, PCT / AU00 / 00572, PCT / AU00 / 00573, PCT / AU00 / 00574, PCT / AU00 / 00575, PCT / AU00 / 00576, PCT / AU00 / 00577, PCT / AU00 / 00578, PCT / AU00 / 00579, PCT / AU00 / 00581, PCT / AU00 / 00580, PCT / AU00 / 00582, PCT / AU00 / 00587, PCT / AU00 / 00588, PCT / AU00 / 00589, PCT / AU00 / 00583, PCT / AU0 0/00593, PCT / AU00 / 00590, PCT / AU00 / 00591, PCT / AU00 / 00592, PCT / AU00 / 00584, PCT / AU00 / 00585, PCT / AU00 / 00586, PCT / AU00 / 00594, PCT / AU00 / 00595, PCT / AU00 / 00596, PCT / AU00 / 00597, PCT / AU00 / 00598, PCT / AU00 / 00516, PCT / AU00 / 00517, PCT / AU00 / 00511, PCT / AU00 / 00501, PCT / AU00 / 00502, PCT / AU00 / 00503, PCT / AU00 / 00504, PCT / AU00 / 00505, PCT / AU00 / 00506, PCT / AU00 / 00507, PCT / AU00 / 00508, PCT / AU00 / 00509, PCT / AU00 / 00510, PCT / AU00 / 00512, PCT / AU00 / 00513, PCT / AU00 / 00514, PCT / AU00 / 00515

The contents disclosed in the above co- filed application are incorporated herein by cross reference.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a MEMS device, the method comprising:
Providing a substrate and a MEMS layer disposed on one side of the substrate;
Applying an additional layer disposed on one side of the substrate to protect the MEMS layer;
Performing at least one operation including back etching from the side of the substrate opposite the side with the MEMS layer, wherein each individual portion comprises at least one MEMS portion of the MEMS layer. Separating into separate parts;
Following the step of separating the substrate into individual portions, attaching the fixing means to the opposite side of the substrate;
Performing at least one operation including an etching operation on the additional layer, each chip forming an individual chip consisting of an individual portion of the substrate, at least one MEMS layer, and a portion of the additional layer; And
Separating the individual chips from the holding means, separating the individual chips from the holding means.
The forming of the individual chips is preferably performed after attaching the fixing means to the substrate.
The manufacturing method includes the step of bonding the fixing means to the substrate.
In a preferred embodiment, the manufacturing method is one chip at a time from the fixing means, wherein the fixing means is adhered to the substrate by an adhesive that is cured by exposure to ultraviolet light and each chip is individually removed from the fixing means. Exposing the localized portion of the fastening means to ultraviolet light so that it can be separated.
The manufacturing method preferably further comprises the step of attaching the holding means with ultraviolet transmission to the holding means such that ultraviolet light penetrates the holding means to cure the adhesive of the holding means.
The manufacturing method advantageously comprises the step of separating each chip from the holding means by a conveying means.
The step of separating each chip from the holding means comprises reciprocating each chip individually over an ultraviolet light source.

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Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGS. 1 to 8 illustrate various steps of a method of manufacturing a MEMS device according to the present invention.

In the initial stages of the method of manufacturing a MEMS device according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the layer 10 is positioned such that the layer 10 is attached to the wafer 14 or the first side 12 of the silicon substrate. do.

The wafer 14 has a MEMS layer 16 surface machined on its first surface 12. The MEMS layer 16 includes individual MEMS elements 18.

The present invention has particular embodiments in the manufacture of inkjet printheads. For convenience of explanation, the present invention will be described in connection with the above embodiment. The layer 10 is a wafer protection or wafer attached to the surface 12 of the silicon substrate 14. Each individual MEMS element 18 is in the form of a nozzle assembly. Each nozzle assembly 18 includes an ink jet nozzle and an associated actuator. The actuator acts on the nozzle as needed to affect ink jetting.

The purpose of the manufacturing method is to form individual MEMS chips 20 (see Fig. 8).

Therefore, after the nozzle protective layer 10 is attached to the wafer 14, the wafer 14 is turned upside down to expose the opposite surface 22, as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, various operations are performed on the wafer 14. In particular, the wafer 14 is back etched from surface 22 to surface 12 to divide the silicon wafer into discrete portions 24. Furthermore, in this embodiment of the present invention, an ink inlet aperture 26 is formed by etching to pass through the portion 24. It should be noted that each of the portions 24 includes a plurality of MEMS elements 18 and coupling pads 28. In addition, as shown more clearly in FIG. 1, the layer 10 provides a surface 12 of the wafer 14 such that the MEMS element 18 and the bond pad 28 are protected by the body 32. A plurality of struts 30 are spaced apart from and supporting the body 32 of the layer 10. The support portion 30 forms chambers 34 and 36. The chamber 24 is located above the coupling pad 28 of the part 24, while the chamber 36 is located above the MEMS element 18 of the part 24.

As shown in Fig. 5, fastening means in the form of an adhesive tape 38 are adhered to the surface 22 of the layer 14. The tape 38 is bonded to the layer 14 by a curable adhesive. The adhesive has the property of being cured in the sense that the adhesive properties, ie "tackiness" disappear when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Depending on the equipment used, holding means in the form of glass, quartz, alumina, or other transparent handle wafer 40 are provided on the opposite side of the tape 30.

The wafer 40, the tape 38, the silicon wafer 14, and the nozzle protection layer 10 form a laminate 42. Thereafter, the laminated structure 42 is flipped over, as shown in FIG.

Certain operations are performed on layer 10. More specifically, the passage 44 is formed by etching from the outer surface 46 to the chamber 36. In addition, an individual nozzle protector 48 is formed by etching to remove the material shown at 50 in FIG. Removal of the material exposes the bonding pads 28 of each chip 20. Upon completion of the work, the individual chips 20 are formed.

In this embodiment, each chip 20 has an arrangement of a plurality of MEMS elements 18 formed thereon.

The stack 42 is located on a reciprocating xy wafer stage (not shown), as shown by arrow 52 in FIG. When it is necessary to remove each MEMS chip 20, as shown by the arrow 54, it exposes to the ultraviolet-ray through the screen 56. As shown in FIG. This instantaneously cures the adhesive of the tape 40 in the lower portion of one particular MEMS chip 20 so that the MEMS chip 20 can be removed from the tape 38. The MEMS chip 20 is removed from the tape 38 by a conveying means such as a vacuum pickup 58.

Thus, an advantage of the present invention is that it provides a manufacturing method that facilitates the performance of various operations of manufacturing individual MEMS chips 20 and facilitates the transport of MEMS chips 20 for packaging. It should be understood that the devices discussed are presented in micron dimensions. Thus, the MEMS element 18 on the device is extremely fragile.

 The provision of the nozzle protective layer 10 and the use of the tape 38 cured by ultraviolet light ensure that the MEMS chip 20 does not come into contact with solids or liquids even after being peeled off by release etching. .

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and / or modifications can be made to the inventions shown by the specific embodiments without departing from the scope of the above-described invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present embodiment is in all respects illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (8)

In the method of manufacturing a MEMS device, the manufacturing method, Providing a substrate and a MEMS layer disposed on one side of the substrate; Applying an additional layer disposed on one side of the substrate to protect the MEMS layer; By back etching from the side of the substrate opposite the side with the MEMS layer, the substrate is divided into discrete parts, with each individual portion having at least one MEMS portion of the MEMS layer. Separating into; Subsequent to separating the substrate into individual portions, attaching holding means to the opposite side of the substrate; By performing an etching operation on the additional layer, each chip forms individual chips consisting of one of the individual portions of the substrate, a portion of at least one MEMS layer, and a portion of the additional layer. ; And  Detaching said individual chips from said holding means to separate said individual chips from said holding means. delete The method of claim 1, And attaching the fixing means comprises bonding the fixing means to the substrate. The method of claim 3, The manufacturing method is such that the fixing means is bonded to the substrate by an adhesive cured by exposure to ultraviolet rays, so that one chip can be separated from the fixing means at one time to remove each chip individually from the fixing means. And exposing the localized portion of the fastening means to ultraviolet light. The method of claim 4, wherein The manufacturing method further comprises the step of attaching the holding means with ultraviolet transmission to the holding means such that the ultraviolet light penetrates the holding means to cure the adhesive of the holding means. The method of claim 5, The manufacturing method includes the step of separating each chip from the fixing means by a conveying means. The method of claim 6, The step of separating each chip from the holding means comprises the step of reciprocating each chip individually over an ultraviolet light source. delete

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