Wafer capping of MEMS with fab-friendly metals

Abstract

Inertial MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) sensors are normally sealed in hermetic enclosures. Some are assembled in hermetic packages but wafer level packaging has become much more important in recent years. Anodic bonding can be used to achieve wafer level seals between silicon and glass but most suppliers of inertial sensors screen print glass frit onto silicon cap wafers. After removing the organic vehicle, these patterned cap wafers are sealed to the device wafer prior to wafer singulation and plastic packaging. Anodic and glass frit bonding are both cost-effective. However, they impose size, quality and performance limitations. Wafer level sealing with a metal removes some of these limitations but introduces other concerns. This paper will review the current wafer level hermetic processes followed by a description of a thermocompression metal seal technology that is compatible with IC fabrication.