Spectrol Reliance Limited

Hamilton Standard Controls, Inc.

David E Blackaby

Tony W Rogers

Frank Chen

A method of hermetically sealing an electrical feedthrough (5) in a semiconductor-on-insulator device comprising the steps of producing an electrically insulating layer (2) on a semiconductive material (1) having a first surface area, producing one or more electrodes (4) on a non-conductive substrate (3) of a second surface area which may be greater than the first surface area, with each electrode having an electrical feedthrough (5) associated therewith, placing the semiconductive layer on the substrate with the insulating layer in contact with the substrate and such that each electrical feedthrough extends beyond the edge of the semiconductive layer, and bonding the semiconductive layer to the substrate to provide an hermetic seal around the feedthrough and thus protect the integrity of the electrode associated therewith and disposed between the semiconductive layer and the substrate.

Semiconductor device having sealed electrical feedthrough

A method of batch producing capacitive pressure sensors in which a sheet of semiconductive material is provided with an insulating layer 4 on one side thereof and a plurality of cavities 1 are formed in the semiconductive sheet by removing part of the insulating layer and part of the semiconductive sheet. Simultaneously with producing the cavities in the semiconductive sheet, at least one recess is provided, again by removing part of the insulating layer and part of the semiconductive sheet. The semiconductive sheet is then bonded to a non-conductive substrate 3 to form a composite sheet with the insulating layer 4 in contact with the substrate, the substrate being provided with a number of electrodes 5 corresponding to the number of cavities in the semiconductive sheet and arranged such that they are located within the cavities on bonding of the semiconductive sheet to the substrate, each electrode having an electrical feedthrough 6 extending therefrom and terminating at a point outside of the associated cavity but within an associated recess in the semiconductive sheet. The bonded composite sheet is patterned with a series of grid lines to delineate the plurality of pressure sensors and the semiconductive sheet is scored from the side opposite that provided with the insulating layer so as to break into each recess to reveal, at a stage in the method of production, the terminal end of each electrical feedthrough 6, and the bonded composite sheet is diced along the grid lines so as to separate the pressure sensors one from another.

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West Suffield, CT, United States of America

David E Blackaby