Semiconductor structures and manufacturing methods

Abstract

A plurality of microwave semiconductor devices is provided by plating a thin conductive layer on a surface of a wafer of semiconductor material, masking selected portions of the thin conductive layer, and plating unmasked portions of the thin conductive layer to form a thicker, apertured support layer with the apertures in the support layer providing a thin contact. After forming the thicker, apertured support layer, substantial portions of the semiconductor material are removed to form the semiconductor devices as a plurality of mesa shaped diodes, with each one of the semiconductor mesa shaped diodes being formed on a corresponding one of the thin contacts, and with the plurality of mesa shaped diodes being mutually supported by the support layer and integrally formed thin contacts. Each contact and the support are selectively etched to pattern portions of the support and thin contacts into a frame. Each frame includes an unetched portion of the support, and a plurality of thin tapered fingers formed from first unetched portions of each contact. The tapered fingers mechanically interconnect a second unetched portion of the thin contact to the frame. Thus, a portion of the support in combination with the plurality of finger portions provides a frame to hold together individual ones of such diodes of each set. A set of diodes with the frame interconnecting such diodes to the support layer is then disposed for bonding into a heat sink surface. The thin contacts of the individual diodes in the set are thermocompression bonded to the heat sink surface, and the frame structure is then mechanically removed leaving the diodes in such set bonded to the heat sink surface.