阅读说明：本技术 微机电泵的制造方法 (Method for manufacturing micro-electromechanical pump ) 是由 莫皓然 余荣侯 张正明 戴贤忠 廖文雄 黄启峰 韩永隆 蔡长谚 于 2019-03-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种微机电泵的制造方法,包含以下步骤：提供第一基板,第一基板具有第一表面及第二表面；于第一基板上形成第一氧化层,并形成流入孔；对第一氧化层进行蚀刻,形成汇流腔室及汇流通道；提供第二基板,第二基板具有第三表面及第四表面；对第二基板的第三表面进行蚀刻,以形成穿孔；通过第二基板的穿孔进行蚀刻,以于第二基板内形成振动腔室；将第二基板结合至第一基板,第二基板的第三表面与第一氧化层贴合；并对第二基板的第四表面进行薄化,形成与第三表面相对的薄化表面；于薄化表面叠置压电组件。(A method of fabricating a microelectromechanical pump, comprising the steps of: providing a first substrate, wherein the first substrate is provided with a first surface and a second surface; forming a first oxide layer on the first substrate and forming an inflow hole; etching the first oxide layer to form a confluence chamber and a confluence channel; providing a second substrate, wherein the second substrate is provided with a third surface and a fourth surface; etching the third surface of the second substrate to form a through hole; etching through the through hole of the second substrate to form a vibration chamber in the second substrate; bonding a second substrate to the first substrate, wherein the third surface of the second substrate is attached to the first oxide layer; thinning the fourth surface of the second substrate to form a thinned surface opposite to the third surface; and stacking the piezoelectric element on the thinning surface.)

1. A method of fabricating a microelectromechanical pump, comprising the steps of:

step (S101) providing a first substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other;

step (S102) of forming a first oxide layer on the first surface of the first substrate and forming a plurality of flow-in holes tapering from the second surface to the first surface;

step (S103) etching the first oxide layer to form a bus chamber and a plurality of bus channels, wherein the bus channels respectively correspond to the plurality of inlet holes of the first substrate;

step (S104) providing a second substrate having a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to each other;

step (S105) etching the third surface of the second substrate to form a through hole at the center thereof;

step (S106) etching through the through hole of the second substrate to form a vibration chamber in the second substrate;

step (S107) of bonding the second substrate to the first substrate, the third surface of the second substrate being bonded to the first oxide layer;

step (S108) of thinning the fourth surface of the second substrate to form a thinned surface opposite to the third surface; and

step (S109) of stacking a piezoelectric element on the thinning surface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step (S109) comprises the steps of:

step (S109a) depositing a lower electrode layer;

step (S109b) depositing a piezoelectric layer on the bottom electrode layer;

step (S109c) of depositing an insulating layer on the piezoelectric layer and the bottom electrode; and

step (S109d) is to deposit an upper electrode layer on the area of the piezoelectric layer where the insulating layer is not deposited and on a portion of the insulating layer, wherein the portion of the upper electrode layer is electrically connected to the piezoelectric layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second substrate is thinned by a polishing process.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said first substrate is a silicon chip.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said second substrate is a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the silicon-on-insulator chip comprises a silicon layer, a second oxide layer stacked on the silicon layer, and a silicon layer, the second oxide layer is stacked on the second oxide layer, the third surface of the second substrate is a surface of the silicon layer, wherein the step (S105) etches the silicon layer to form the through-holes, the step (S106) etches the second oxide layer through the through-holes to form the vibration chamber, and the step (S108) thins the silicon layer of the second substrate to form the thinned surface.

7. The method of fabricating a microelectromechanical pump of claim 6 comprising the steps of: step (S110) is to etch the thinned surface of the silicon chip layer to form a plurality of fluid channels in the silicon chip layer, the plurality of fluid channels being in communication with the vibration chamber.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said step (S108) includes the step (S108a) of etching said thinned surface of said silicon chip layer to form a plurality of fluid channels in said silicon chip layer, said plurality of fluid channels being in communication with said vibration chamber.

9. The method of fabricating a microelectromechanical pump of claim 1 comprising the steps of: step (S110) etches the thinned surface of the second substrate to form a plurality of fluid channels, the plurality of fluid channels being in communication with the vibration chamber.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step (S108) includes the step (S108a) of etching the thinned surface of the second substrate to form a plurality of fluid channels, the plurality of fluid channels being in communication with the vibration chamber.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a micro-electromechanical pump, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a micro-electromechanical pump through a semiconductor process.

Background

At present, in all fields, no matter in medicine, computer technology, printing, energy and other industries, products are developed toward refinement and miniaturization, wherein a pump mechanism for conveying fluid included in a product such as a micropump, a sprayer, an ink jet head, an industrial printing device and the like is a key element thereof, so that how to break through the technical bottleneck of the pump mechanism by means of an innovative structure is an important content of development.

With the increasing development of technology, fluid delivery devices are being used more and more frequently, such as industrial applications, biomedical applications, medical care, electronic heat dissipation, etc., and even recently, the image of a wearable device is seen in hot-door wearable devices, which means that conventional pumps have been gradually becoming smaller and larger.

However, although the miniaturization of the pump is continuously improved and miniaturized, the pump cannot be reduced to the micron level by breaking through the millimeter level, and therefore how to reduce the pump to the micron level is the main subject of the present invention.

Disclosure of Invention

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a micro electromechanical pump, which is used to manufacture a micro electromechanical pump of a micron scale, so as to reduce the limitation of the volume on the pump.

To achieve the above object, a method for manufacturing a micro-electromechanical pump according to a broader aspect of the present invention includes the following steps:

step (S101) providing a first substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other;

step (S102) of forming a first oxide layer on the first surface of the first substrate and forming a plurality of flow-in holes tapering from the second surface to the first surface;

step (S103) etching the first oxide layer to form a bus chamber and a plurality of bus channels, wherein the bus channels respectively correspond to the plurality of inlet holes of the first substrate;

step (S104) providing a second substrate having a third surface and a fourth surface opposite to each other;

step (S105) etching the third surface of the second substrate to form a through hole at the center thereof;

step (S106) etching through the through hole of the second substrate to form a vibration chamber in the second substrate;

step (S107) of bonding the second substrate to the first substrate, the third surface of the second substrate being bonded to the first oxide layer;

step (S108) of thinning the fourth surface of the second substrate to form a thinned surface opposite to the third surface; and

step (S109) of stacking a piezoelectric element on the thinning surface.

Drawings

Fig. 1A and 1B are schematic flow charts of a method for manufacturing the mems pump of the present invention.

Fig. 2A and 2B are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing the microelectromechanical pump according to the present invention.

Fig. 3A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a microelectromechanical pump.

Fig. 3B is an exploded view of the microelectromechanical pump.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another manufacturing method of the microelectromechanical pump of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5A and 5B are schematic cross-sectional views of the second substrate of the micro electromechanical pump of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of the fabrication of the piezoelectric element of the mems pump.

Fig. 7A to 7C are operation diagrams of the mems pump.

Description of the reference numerals

100: MEMS pump

1: first substrate

11: first surface

12: second surface

13: inflow hole

2: first oxide layer

21: confluence chamber

22: confluence channel

3: second substrate

31: third surface

32: the fourth surface

33: perforation

34: vibration chamber

35: thinned surface

36: fluid channel

3A: silicon layer

31 a: vibrating part

32 a: fixing part

3B: second oxide layer

3C: silicon chip layer

31 c: actuating part

32c, the ratio of: connecting part

33 c: outer peripheral portion

4: piezoelectric component

41: lower electrode layer

42: piezoelectric layer

43: insulating layer

44: upper electrode layer

S101 to S109: method for manufacturing MEMS pump

Detailed Description

Embodiments that embody the features and advantages of this disclosure will be described in detail in the description that follows. It will be understood that the present disclosure is capable of various modifications without departing from the scope of the disclosure, and that the description and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

The method for manufacturing the MEMS pump and the MEMS pump 100 manufactured by the method can be applied to the fields of medical technology, energy, computer technology, printing and the like, and are used for guiding fluid and increasing or controlling the flow rate of the fluid. Referring to fig. 1A, fig. 1B, fig. 2A and fig. 2B, fig. 1A and fig. 1B are schematic flow charts of a manufacturing method of the mems pump 100 of the present application, fig. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the mems pump 100, fig. 2B is a schematic exploded view of the mems pump 100 manufactured by the manufacturing method of the mems pump 100 of the present application, the mems pump 100 of the present application is completed through a micro-electromechanical process, and should not be decomposed, and a description of the structure thereof is purposely made using an exploded view to clearly describe the structure thereof; the method for manufacturing the micro-electromechanical pump 100 comprises the following steps: step (S101) providing a first substrate 1, wherein the first substrate 1 has a first surface 11 and a second surface 12 opposite to each other; step (S102) of forming a first oxide layer 2 on the first surface 11 of the first substrate 1 and forming a plurality of flow-in holes 13 tapering from the second surface 12 to the first surface 11; step (S103) etching the first oxide layer 2 to form a bus chamber 21 and a plurality of bus channels 22, wherein the bus channels 22 respectively correspond to the plurality of inlet holes 13 of the first substrate 1; step (S104) providing a second substrate 3, the second substrate 3 having a third surface 31 and a fourth surface 32; step (S105) of etching the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3 to form a through hole 33 at the center thereof; step (S106) of etching through the through hole 33 of the second substrate 3 to form a vibration chamber 34 in the second substrate 3; step (S107) of bonding the second substrate 3 to the first substrate 1, and attaching the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3 to the first oxide layer 2; step (S108) of thinning the fourth surface 32 of the second substrate 3 to form a thinned surface 35 opposite to the third surface 31; and a step (S109) of stacking a piezoelectric element 4 on the thinning surface 35.

First, as shown in step (S101), a first substrate 1 is provided, and the first substrate 1 is polished, etched, cut, etc. to form a first surface 11 and a second surface 12 on the first substrate 1.

The step (S102) is continued, a first oxide layer 2 is formed on the first surface 11 of the first substrate 1, and the second surface 12 is etched to form the plurality of inflow holes 13 tapering from the second surface 12 to the first surface 11.

As shown in step (S103), the first oxide layer 2 is etched, and a bus chamber 21 and a plurality of bus channels 22 are formed in the first oxide layer 2, the bus chamber 21 is located at the center of the first oxide layer 2, one end of each of the plurality of bus channels 22 corresponds to the plurality of inflow holes 13 of the first substrate 1 and is respectively communicated with the plurality of inflow holes 13, and the other end of each of the plurality of bus channels 22 is communicated with the bus chamber 21.

In step (S104), a second substrate 3 is provided, the second substrate 3 having a third surface 31 and a fourth surface 32; then, as shown in step (S105), the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3 is etched to form a through hole 33 at the center thereof; in another step (S106), the inside of the second substrate 3 is etched again by using the through hole 33 of the second substrate 3, for example, an etching solution is injected from the through hole 33, an etching process is performed on the inside of the second substrate 3 by using the etching solution, a vibration chamber 34 is formed inside the second substrate 3, and the vibration chamber 34 is communicated with the through hole 33.

Referring to step (S107), the second substrate 3 is bonded to the first substrate 1, and the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3 is bonded to the first oxide layer 2, at this time, the through hole of the second substrate 3 vertically corresponds to the converging chamber 21 of the first oxide layer 2; then, in step (S108), the fourth surface 32 of the second substrate 3 is thinned, for example, the fourth surface 32 is polished, the thickness of the second substrate 3 is reduced to perform the thinning operation, and a thinned surface 35 opposite to the third surface 31 is formed; in another step (S109), a piezoelectric element 4 is stacked on the thinning surface 35.

Finally, in step (S110), the thinned surface 35 of the second substrate 3 is etched to form a plurality of fluid channels 36, and the plurality of fluid channels 36 are communicated with the vibration chamber 34, thereby completing the mems pump 100.

Referring to fig. 4, another embodiment of the mems pump and the manufacturing method thereof is shown, the difference is that the step (S108) includes the step (S108a) of etching the thinned surface 35 of the second substrate 3 to form the plurality of fluid channels 36, and the plurality of fluid channels 36 are communicated with the vibration chamber 34, thereby completing the mems pump 100.

In addition, referring to fig. 5A and 5B, in the step (S104), the second substrate 3 is prepared, the second substrate 3 is a silicon-on-insulator (SOI wafer) comprising a silicon material layer 3A, a second oxide layer 3B, and a silicon chip layer 3C, the second oxide layer 3B is stacked on the silicon chip layer 3C, the silicon material layer 3A is stacked on the second oxide layer 3B, wherein the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3 is the surface of the silicon material layer 3A, the step (S105) etches the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3, that is, the silicon material is etched on the surface of the silicon material layer 3A (the same as the third surface 31), the through hole 33 is formed on the silicon material layer 3A, and the step (S106) is performed through the through hole 33 of the second substrate 3, that is, the etching solution which will etch the oxide layer but will not etch passes through the through hole 33 of the silicon material layer 3A, the second oxide layer 3B between the silicon layer 3A and the silicon chip layer 3C is etched such that the vibration chamber 34 is formed in the second oxide layer 3B, and the step (S108) of thinning the silicon chip layer 3C, such as grinding, is performed to form the thinned surface 35, and finally the step (S108a) or the step (S110) of etching the thinned surface 35 of the second substrate 3, such as etching the thinned surface 35 of the silicon chip layer 3C, is performed to form the plurality of fluid channels 36.

As described above, referring to fig. 3A and fig. 3B, the periphery of the through hole 33 of the silicon layer 3A and the portion corresponding to the vertical projection area of the vibration chamber 34 is the vibration portion 31a, and the other portion corresponding to the second oxide layer 3B is the fixing portion 32 a; and the silicon chip layer 3C defines an actuating portion 31C, a plurality of connecting portions 32C and an outer peripheral portion 33C after passing through the etching fluid channel 36, the actuating portion 31C is surrounded by the fluid channel 36, the outer peripheral portion 33C is located at the periphery of the fluid channel 36, and the connecting portion 32C is located between the fluid channels 36 and connected to the actuating portion 31C and the outer peripheral portion 33C.

Referring to fig. 3A and fig. 6, the step (S109) includes the following steps: the step (S109a) of depositing a lower electrode layer 41; step (S109b) of depositing a piezoelectric layer 42 on the lower electrode layer 41; step (S109c) of depositing an insulating layer 43 on a partial region of the piezoelectric layer 42 and a partial region of the lower electrode layer 41; step (S109d) is to deposit an upper electrode layer 44 on the insulating layer 43, wherein a portion of the upper electrode layer 44 is electrically connected to the piezoelectric layer 42.

As mentioned above, referring to the step (S109a), the lower electrode layer 41 is deposited on the third surface 31 of the second substrate 3 by physical or chemical vapor deposition such as sputtering, evaporation, and the like, and then, in the step (S109b), the piezoelectric layer 42 is deposited on the lower electrode layer 41 by evaporation, sputtering, and the like, and the two are electrically connected through the contact region, and the width of the piezoelectric layer 42 is smaller than the width of the lower electrode layer 41, so that the piezoelectric layer 42 cannot completely shield the lower electrode layer 41; then, the step (S109c) is performed to deposit the insulating layer 43 on the partial area of the piezoelectric layer 42 and the area of the lower electrode layer 41 not covered by the piezoelectric layer 42; finally, step (S109d) is performed to deposit an upper electrode layer 44 on the area of the piezoelectric layer 44 where the insulating layer 43 is not deposited and a portion of the insulating layer 43, so that the upper electrode layer 42 is electrically connected to the piezoelectric layer 42, and the insulating layer 43 is used to block the space between the upper electrode layer 44 and the lower electrode layer 41, thereby preventing the short circuit caused by the electrical connection between the upper electrode layer 44 and the lower electrode layer 41, wherein the lower electrode layer 41 and the upper electrode layer 44 can extend outward conductive pins (not shown) through a fine pitch wire bonding packaging technique for receiving external driving signals and driving voltages.

Referring to fig. 3A and 3B, a cross-sectional view of a mems pump 100 manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention is shown, the mems pump 100 is formed by laminating a first substrate 1 having a first oxide layer 2 and an SOI wafer second substrate 3 having a silicon material layer 3A, a second oxide layer 3B and a silicon chip layer 3C, in this embodiment, the number of the inflow holes 13 on the first substrate 1 is 4, but not limited to, the 4 inflow holes 13 are all tapered conical, when the mems pump is bonded to the second substrate 3, the first oxide layer 2 is connected to the second substrate 3, the positions and the number of the confluence channels 22 of the first oxide layer 2 are all corresponding to the inflow holes 13 of the first substrate 1, therefore, in this embodiment, the number of the confluence channels 22 is also 4, one end of the 4 confluence channels 22 is respectively connected to the 4 confluence holes 13, and the other end of the 4 confluence channels 22 is connected to the confluence chamber 21, after the gas enters from the 4 inflow holes 13, the gas can pass through the corresponding confluence channels 22 and gather in the confluence chamber 21, the through holes 33 of the second substrate 3 are communicated with the confluence chamber 21 for the gas to pass through, and the vibration chamber of the second oxide layer 3B is communicated with the through holes 33 of the silicon layer 3A and the fluid channel 36 of the second substrate 3, so that the fluid can enter the vibration chamber 34 from the through holes 33 and then is discharged from the fluid channel 36.

Referring to fig. 3A and fig. 7A to 7C, fig. 7A to 7C are schematic operation diagrams of the mems pump manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present disclosure; referring to fig. 7A, when the lower electrode layer 41 and the upper electrode layer 44 of the piezoelectric element 4 receive a driving voltage and a driving signal (not shown) transmitted from the outside, it is transmitted to the piezoelectric layer 42, and the piezoelectric layer 42 starts to deform due to the influence of the piezoelectric effect after receiving the driving voltage and the driving signal, the variation and frequency of the deformation are controlled by the driving voltage and the driving signal, when the piezoelectric layer 42 begins to deform by the driving voltage and the driving signal, the actuating portion 31C of the silicon chip layer 3C of the second substrate 3 is driven to start to displace, when the piezoelectric element 4 drives the actuating portion 31c to move upward to open the distance between the actuating portion and the second oxide layer 3B, at this time, the volume of the vibration chamber 34 of the second oxide layer 3B is increased, so that negative pressure is formed in the vibration chamber 34 for sucking the gas in the confluence chamber 21 of the first oxide layer 2; referring to fig. 7B, when the actuator 31C is pulled by the piezoelectric element 4 to move upwards, the vibration portion 31a of the silicon layer 3A in the second substrate 3 will move upwards due to the resonance principle, when the vibration portion 31a moves upwards, the space of the vibration chamber 34 will be compressed and the fluid in the vibration chamber 34 will be pushed to move towards the second fluid channel 36, so that the fluid can be discharged upwards through the fluid channel 36, while the vibration portion 31a moves upwards to compress the vibration chamber 34, the volume of the bus chamber 21 will be raised due to the displacement of the vibration portion 31a, so that a negative pressure is formed inside the bus chamber, the fluid outside the micro pump 100 will be sucked into the bus chamber from the inlet 13, and finally, as shown in fig. 7C, when the piezoelectric element 4 drives the actuator 31C of the silicon chip layer 3C in the second substrate 3 to move downwards, the gas in the vibration chamber 34 will be pushed into the fluid channel 36 and discharged outwards, the vibration portion 31a of the second substrate 3 is also driven by the actuating portion 31c to move downward, the gas in the synchronously compressed convergence chamber 21 moves to the vibration chamber 34 through the through hole 33, and then when the piezoelectric element 4 drives the actuating portion 31c to move upward, the volume of the vibration chamber 34 is greatly increased, so that the gas is sucked into the vibration chamber 34 with high suction force, and the above actions are repeated, so that the actuating portion 31c is continuously driven by the piezoelectric element 4 to move up and down and the vibration portion 31a is driven to move up and down, thereby changing the internal pressure of the micro-electromechanical pump 100, and continuously sucking and exhausting the gas to complete the pump action.

In summary, the present disclosure provides a method for fabricating a micro electromechanical pump, which mainly uses a semiconductor process to complete a structure of the micro electromechanical pump, so as to further reduce the volume of the pump, so that the pump is more light, thin, short and small, and reaches the size of nanometer scale, thereby reducing the problem that the past pump has too large volume and cannot reach the limit of micrometer scale, which has great industrial utility value.

Various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.