Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Arthur D. Little, Inc.

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

The United States of America As Represented by the Department of Energy

John S Haggerty

Michael John Cima

Emanuel Michael Sachs

Wendell Eugene Rhine

William L Robbins

William D Goodhue

George B Kenney

Dennis D Rathman

R Allen Murphy

Joseph F Wenckus

Wilson P Menashi

Paul A Williams

Julia Sigalovsky

Annamarie Lightfoot

Delbert E Day

Rodger D Blake

Frank D Gac

Stephen C Danforth

Andreas M Glaeser

Harvey K Bowen

An electronic device package is provided, consisting of reaction bonded silicon nitride structural and dielectric components and conductor, resistor, and capacitor elements positioned with the package structural components. The package consists of a ceramic package base characterized by a dielectric constant less than 6, of reaction bonded silicon nitride, or a heat spreader material. An electrical conductor is positioned on, embedded in, or attached to the package base for making electrical contact to an electronic device supported on the base and in preferred embodiments, a resistor is attached to the package base. The invention also provides package sidewalls connected to the package base, preferably of reaction bonded silicon nitride, and at least one electrical conductor extending to an outside surface of the package sidewalls for making electrical contact to an electronic device supported by the package base. The reaction formed electronic device packages of the invention provide the ability to support high device signal frequencies, high device operational temperatures, and high environmental temperatures, due to the characteristics of the package materials. The reaction formed electronic device packages of the invention may be produced with a nitriding process during which the overall package structure exhibits minimal shrinkage. As a result, the reaction formed electronic device packages of the invention may be shaped to finished dimensions before the nitriding process with complicated and tight-tolerance geometries of package structural, conducting, resistive, and capacitive components.

Net-shape ceramic processing for electronic devices and packages

A method of producing electronic device packages is provided, consisting of the steps of shaping a package preform and heating the package preform in a nitrogen-containing atmoshpere to nitride the package preform. The shaped package preform may consist of package base, sidewall, conductor, resistor, or capacitor components. The package base and sidewall components may be formed of silicon powder. The method also accommodates the step of inserting a semiconducting material into the package preform and heating the semiconducting material component along with the package preform. The inserted semiconducting material component may be processed to define active electronic device areas on the component either before or after the step of heating the shaped package preform and inserted semiconducting material component. The package production methods of the invention provide the ability to produce reaction bonded structural and dielectric package components by way of a nitriding process that causes minimal overall shrinkage of the package. As a result, reaction formed electronic device packages of the invention may be shaped to finished dimensions before the nitriding process with complicated and tight-tolerance geometries of package structural, conducting, resistive, and capacitive components. The package production methods of the invention also provide the ability to interleave electronic device and packaging manufacturing sequence steps, resulting in increased manufacturing efficiency, as well as improved performance in the devices and packages produced. Device substrates or partially fabricated devices may be embedded into semi-finished packages, whereby completion of device fabrication coincides with completion of package fabrication. This makes possible the fabrication of active devices and circuits in a fully packaged environment.

A process for making a component by depositing a first layer of a powder material in a confined region and then depositing a binder material to selected regions of the layer of powder material to produce a layer of bonded powder material at the selected regions. Such steps are repeated a selected number of times to produce successive layers of selected regions of bonded powder material so as to form the desired component. The unbonded powder material is then removed. In some cases the component may be further processed as, for example, by heating it to further strengthen the bonding thereof.

Three-dimensional printing techniques

A process for making a component by depositing a first layer of a fluent porous material, such as a powder, in a confined region and then depositing a binder material to selected regions of the layer of powder material to produce a layer of bonded powder material at the selected regions. Such steps are repeated a selected number of times to produce successive layers of selected regions of bonded powder material so as to form the desired component. The unbonded powder material is then removed. In some cases the component may be further processed as, for example, by heating it to further strengthen the bonding thereof.

A method for making uniform spherical shells. The present invention allows niform hollow spheres to be made by first making a void in a body of material. The material is heated so that the viscosity is sufficiently low so that the surface tension will transform the void into a bubble. The bubble is allowed to rise in the body until it is spherical. The excess material is removed from around the void to form a spherical shell with a uniform outside diameter.

Fabrication of precision glass shells by joining glass rods

A laser powered chemical vapor deposition process and apparatus for producing heterogeneous nucleation and sustained growth of films on substrates. The process is conducted at low laser intensities and high reactant pressures so as to operate in the thermal domain. Semiconductor films and fabrication of fiber optic waveguides are illustrated in the process.

Laser heated CVD process

A process for forming large-grain polycrystalline films from amorphous films for use as photovoltaic devices. The process operates on the amorphous film and uses the driving force inherent to the transition from the amorphous state to the crystalline state as the force which drives the grain growth process. The resultant polycrystalline film is characterized by a grain size that is greater than the thickness of the film. A thin amorphous film is deposited on a substrate. The formation of a plurality of crystalline embryos is induced in the amorphous film at predetermined spaced apart locations and nucleation is inhibited elsewhere in the film. The crystalline embryos are caused to grow in the amorphous film, without further nucleation occurring in the film, until the growth of the embryos is halted by imgingement on adjacently growing embryos. The process is applicable to both batch and continuous processing techniques. In either type of process, the thin amorphous film is sequentially doped with p and n type dopants. Doping is effected either before or after the formation and growth of the crystalline embryos in the amorphous film, or during a continuously proceeding crystallization step.

Polycrystalline semiconductor processing

Metal or ceramic powders having a narrow size distribution are produced by passing a gas entrained powder through an intense light beam which couples preferentially with the larger particles to heat and selectively vaporize a portion of the larger particles until their diameter approximates the desired size.

Process for controlling powder size with optical energy

Refractory tubings, either in amorphous, polycrystalline or single crystal form, are made by moving a preformed tubing of a refractory material and a heated zone relative to each other, the heating zone providing sufficient heat to melt through the tubing and form a molten ring which is continuously advanced through the tubing. The heat source may be located externally or internally of the tubing wall or in both positions. The tubings may be formed as single crystals by using appropriate seeds; and by controlling the rate of movement of the tubing sections on either side of the molten ring the wall thickness and diameter of the final tubing may be adjusted.

Method for forming refractory tubing

Apparatus for forming fibers of refractory materials. A melt volume is continuously formed on a feed rod of the material to be fiberized and a fiber drawn therefrom. The melt volume is formed by introducing the feed rod at a predetermined velocity into a heating zone. The fiber diameter is determined by the relative velocities at which the feed rod is moved and the fiber drawn, and by the fractional density of the feed rod material.

Apparatus for forming refractory fibers

Method and apparatus for forming fibers of refractory materials. A melt volume is continuously formed on a feed rod of the material to be fiberized and a fiber drawn therefrom. The melt volume is formed by introducing the feed rod at a predetermined velocity into a heating zone. The fiber diameter is determined by the relative velocities at which the feed rod is moved and the fiber drawn, and by the fractional density of the feed rod material.

Method for forming refractory fibers by laser energy

Refractory tubings approaching theoretical density, either in polycrystalline or single crystal form, are made by moving a preformed tubing of a refractory material and a heated zone relative to each other, the heating zone providing sufficient heat to melt through the tubing and form a molten ring which is continuously advanced through the tubing. The heat source may be located externally or internally of the tubing wall or in both positions. The tubings may be formed as single crystals; and by controlling the rate of movement of the tubing sections on either side of the molten ring the wall thickness and diameter of the final tubing may be adjusted.

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Lincoln, MA, United States of America

John S Haggerty