Texas Instruments Corporation

Roger A Robbins

Simon Joshua Jacobs

Alan Dee Rose

Jwei Wien Liu

Edward Carl Fisher

David W Buck

Jack C Smith

Donald E Brown

Joyce Wong Holton

A nebulization system, which creates a uniform fog of tiny suspended liquid droplets, to lubricate the surfaces of MEMS devices. These droplets fall over the edge of a baffle and are then mixed with an umbrella-like sheet of Nturbulation gas to generate a uniform cloud of droplets that fill a passivation chamber. The MEMS device is then positioned in this uniform cloud of lubricant droplets for a specified amount of time, thereby uniformly lubricating all the surfaces of the device. The system uses a laser monitoring approach to control the uniformity of the lubricant cloud by providing feedback to the system to control the flow of gases. The system also equalizes the pressure around the sample device seal to prevent gases from entering or exiting the chamber and thereby influencing the environment inside the chamber.

Method and apparatus for MEMS device nebulizer lubrication system

An anchor to hold getter materials in place within a micromechanical device package substrate. First and second cavity faces define an anchor cavity and mechanically retain a getter away from a region holding the micromechanical device. The getter anchor may be formed in a substrate comprised of at least three layers. The layers form a cavity in the substrate with a wide bottom portion&#x2014;formed in the middle layer and a relatively narrower top portion&#x2014;formed by the top layer. The narrow portion helps to retain the getter in the cavity by creating a mechanical lock on the wide portion of getter in the bottom of the cavity.

Anchor for device package

A method and system for applying a surface treatment to an object. The system comprises: a source chamber ( ) for holding a source of surface treatment material ( ); a deposition chamber ( ) enclosing the object to be treated ( ); a recovery chamber ( ); a supply of carrier gas ( ); conduit ( ) connecting the source chamber ( ) to the deposition chamber ( ) and the deposition chamber ( ) to the recovery chamber ( ) and for controlling the flow of the carrier gas between the source chamber ( ), the deposition chamber ( ) and the recovery chamber; and a heater ( ) for heating the source chamber ( ), the source of surface treatment material ( ), the deposition chamber ( ), an upper portion ( ) of the recovery chamber ( ), the carrier gas, and the conduit ( ). When heated, the source material ( ) evaporates into the carrier gas and is carried to the deposition chamber ( ) where is attaches to the surface of the object being treated ( ). The depleted carrier gas is then delivered to the cooler lower portion ( ) of the recovery chamber ( ) where it condenses out of the carrier gas. After the supply of material ( ) is depleted, the system flow is reversed to reuse the remaining source material ( ). Throughout the deposition process, the carrier gas and all system surfaces are held above the condensation point of the source material-laden carrier gas to prevent unwanted deposition of the source material ( ).

Surface treatment material deposition and recapture

A method of dispensing a lubricant into a micromechanical device package and a micromechanical device package containing the lubricant. The method comprises the steps of mixing (,) the lubricant, typically a perfluoroalkanoic acid such as perfluorodecanoic acid with a suitable solvent, typically an ether solvent such as tetrahydrofuran or tert-butyl methyl ether. The mixture is allowed to equilibriate (,) before being filtered (,) to remove solid particles. The filtered solution is applied (,) to a surface that will be on the interior of the package, typically the ceramic substrate. The deposited mixture is then cured (,) to remove most, if not all, of the solvent, and the package is sealed (,).

Lubricant delivery for micromechanical devices

A method and apparatus is provided for effectively releasing a semiconductor wafer (36) from a deactivated electrostatic clamp (20) by diffusing a neutralizing gas into the space between the clamping surface of the electrostatic clamp and the surface of the wafer, generating an ionizing voltage with an alternating polarity, and applying the alternating polarity ionizing voltage to the diffusing gas to neutralize the residual electrostatic charges remaining on the surfaces of the clamp (20) and the wafer (36).

Method and apparatus for releasing a semiconductor wafer from an

A method and apparatus is provided for reducing wall erosion in a plasma containment tube (20), such as, for example, a quartz plasma tube (20) used in a microwave-induced plasma reaction process for etching semiconductor wafers. A pure benign or non-corrosive gas (Ar) is introduced into the 'upstream' section (22a) of the tube (22), where the microwave energy is imparted to create a plasma. The activated benign gas flows 'downstream' through a flange (28), preferably made of quartz, which is seated on o-rings (50) inside a water-cooled metal flange (48). These sealing o-rings (50) are thus cooled and removed from the ultraviolet light created by the plasma. The corrosive etchant gas (SF.sub.6) is introduced into the 'downstream' section (22b) of the tube (22) beyond the flange (28), where it is activated by the benign gas (Ar). The benign gas (Ar) flows principally along the inner sidewalls of the tube (22), and the etchant gas (SF.sub.6) is thus principally contained by the benign gas (Ar) in the center of this section (22b) of the tube. This 'downstream' section (22b) of the tube (22) is surrounded by a water jacket (24), which channels coolant around the outer surface of the tube (22b). Consequently, etching erosion of the inner surface of the tube (22) is minimized in the 'upstream' or microwave section (22a) where the plasma is hottest, and also in the 'downstream' section (22b) where the corrosive etchant gas (SF.sub.6) is activated.

Method and apparatus for reducing etching erosion in a plasma

A method of processing a semiconductor wafer using a wafer chuck having a first end with a non-planar surface, the non-planar surface shaped such that a wafer supported at a plurality of points about its periphery will have a uniform pressure between its surface and the non-planar surface, and pressing a surface of the wafer against the non-planar surface of the wafer chuck.

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McKinney, TX, United States of America

Roger A Robbins