Robert Boschgmbh

Silvia Kronmueller

Markus Lutz

Aaron Partridge

Franz Laermer

Christoph Schelling

Bernd Schumann

Tino Fuchs

Ando Feyh

Markus Ulm

Christina Leinenbach

Hubert Benzel

Reinhard Neul

Brian H Stark

Matthias Metz

Simon Armbruster

Gerhard Lammel

Ulf Wilhelm

Frank Reichenbach

Ralf Reichenbach

Matthias Illing

Paul Farber

Jens Frey

Thorsten Pannek

Udo Bischof

Andreas Scheurle

Georg Bischopink

Marco Lammer

Cyril Vancura

There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a technique of fabricating or manufacturing MEMS having mechanical structures that operate in controlled or predetermined mechanical damping environments. In this regard, the present invention encapsulates the mechanical structures within a chamber, prior to final packaging and/or completion of the MEMS. The environment within the chamber containing and/or housing the mechanical structures provides the predetermined, desired and/or selected mechanical damping. The parameters of the encapsulated fluid (for example, the gas pressure) in which the mechanical structures are to operate are controlled, selected and/or designed to provide a desired and/or predetermined operating environment.

Electromechanical system having a controlled atmosphere, and method of fabricating same

A semiconductor device includes a carrier substrate having at least one conductor track, at least one converter element structured at least partly from a further semiconductor substrate, and conductive structures formed on a respective converter element. The at least one converter element is electrically linked to the at least one conductor track via at least one at least partly conductive supporting element arranged between a contact side of the carrier substrate and an inner side of the converter element. The inner side is oriented toward the carrier substrate. The at least one converter element is arranged on the contact side of the carrier substrate such that the inner side of the converter element is kept spaced apart from the contact side of the carrier substrate. The at least one converter element and the conductive structures formed thereon are completely embedded into at least one insulating material.

Semiconductor device with embedded converter element and production method for a semiconductor device with an embedded converter element

There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a MEMS device, and technique of fabricating or manufacturing a MEMS device, having mechanical structures encapsulated in a chamber prior to final packaging. The material that encapsulates the mechanical structures, when deposited, includes one or more of the following attributes: low tensile stress, good step coverage, maintains its integrity when subjected to subsequent processing, does not significantly and/or adversely impact the performance characteristics of the mechanical structures in the chamber (if coated with the material during deposition), and/or facilitates integration with high-performance integrated circuits. In one embodiment, the material that encapsulates the mechanical structures is, for example, silicon (polycrystalline, amorphous or porous, whether doped or undoped), silicon carbide, silicon-germanium, germanium, or gallium-arsenide.

Microelectromechanical device including an encapsulation layer of which a portion is removed to expose a substantially planar surface having a portion that is disposed outside and above a chamber and including a field region on which integrated circuits are formed, and methods for fabricating same

A method for producing a silicon substrate, including the steps of providing a silicon substrate having an essentially planar silicon surface, producing a porous silicon surface having a plurality of pores, in particular having macropores and/or mesopores and/or nanopores, applying a filling material that is to be inserted into the silicon, which has a diameter that is less than a diameter of the pores, inserting the filling material into the pores and removing the excess filling material form the silicon surface, if necessary, and tempering the silicon substrate that is furnished with the filling material that has been filled into the pores, at a temperature between ca. 1000&#xb0; C. and ca. 1400&#xb0; C., in order to close the generated pores again and to enclose the filling material.

Method for producing a silicon substrate having modified surface properties and a silicon substrate of said type

A method for producing a capping wafer for a sensor having at least one cap includes: production of a contacting via extending through the wafer, and, temporally subsequent thereto, filling of the contacting via with an electrically conductive material.

Method for producing a capping wafer for a sensor

A silicon oxide layer is formed by oxidation or decomposition of a silicon precursor gas in an oxygen-rich environment followed by annealing. The silicon oxide layer may be formed with slightly compressive stress to yield, following annealing, an oxide layer having very low stress. The silicon oxide layer thus formed is readily etched without resulting residue using HF-vapor.

Crack and residue free conformal deposited silicon oxide with predictable and uniform etching characteristics

A method for etching a layer that is to be removed on a substrate, in which a SiGelayer is the layer to be removed, this layer being removed, at least in areas, in gas phase etching with the aid of an etching gas, in particular ClF. The etching behavior of the SiGelayer can be controlled via the Ge portion in the SiGelayer. The etching method is particularly well-suited for manufacturing self-supporting structures in a micromechanical sensor and for manufacturing such self-supporting structures in a closed hollow space, because the SiGelayer, as a sacrificial layer or filling layer, is etched highly selectively relative to silicon.

Method for etching a layer on a substrate

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure is provided which includes the following operations: supplying a crystalline semiconductor substrate, providing a porous region adjacent to a surface of the semiconductor substrate, introducing a dopant into the porous region from the surface, and thermally recrystallizing the porous region into a crystalline doping region of the semiconductor substrate whose doping type and/or doping concentration and/or doping distribution are/is different from those or that of the semiconductor substrate. A corresponding semiconductor structure is likewise provided.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure, and a corresponding Semiconductor Structure

An encapsulated MEMS process including a high-temperature anti-stiction coating that is stable under processing steps at temperatures over 450 C is described. The coating is applied after device release but before sealing vents in the encapsulation layer. Alternatively, an anti-stiction coating may be applied to released devices directly before encapsulation.

Microelectromechanical systems encapsulation process

Microelectromechanical device including an encapsulation layer of which a portion is removed to expose a substantially planar surface having a portion that is disposed outside and above a chamber and including a field region on which integrated circuits are formed and methods for fabricating same

A capping technology is provided in which, despite the fact that structures which are surrounded by a silicon-germanium filling layer are exposed using ClFetching through micropores in the silicon cap, an etching attack on the silicon cap is prevented, namely, either by particularly selective (approximately 10,000:1 or higher) adjustment of the etching process itself, or by using the finding that the oxide of a germanium-rich layer, in contrast to oxidized porous silicon, is not stable but instead may be easily dissolved, to protect the silicon cap.

Method for producing a micromechanical component having a thin-layer capping

A micromechanical component having a conductive substrate, an elastically deflectable diaphragm including at least one conductive layer, which is provided over a front side of the substrate, the conductive layer being electrically insulated from the substrate, a hollow space, which is provided between the substrate and the diaphragm and is filled with a medium, and a plurality of perforation openings, which run under the diaphragm through the substrate, the perforation openings providing access to the hollow space from a back surface of the substrate, so that a volume of the medium located in the hollow space may change when the diaphragm is deflected. Also described is a corresponding manufacturing method.

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Schwaikheim, Germany

Silvia Kronmueller