Capacitive gas sensor and method for manufacturing same
阅读说明:本技术 电容式气体传感器及其制造方法 (Capacitive gas sensor and method for manufacturing same ) 是由 F.盖拉德 T.斐利比 C.格雷泽 于 2019-07-18 设计创作,主要内容包括:本发明提供一种电容式气体传感器及其制造方法,其中所述电容式气体传感器包括:第一电极(210;310;410;510);第二电极(220;320;420;520);气敏电介质材料(240;340;440;540),其布置在第一和第二电极之间以形成气敏电容器,气敏电介质材料(240;340;440;540)具有取决于从环境介质吸收的气体化合物的量的介电常数;以及电介质-电极界面材料(250;350;450;550),其布置在第一和第二电极中的至少一个与气敏电介质材料(240;340;440;540)的界面处。电介质-电极界面材料(250;350;450;550)适于吸收第一和第二电极中的所述至少一个的热致膨胀,用以降低气敏电介质材料(240;340;440;540)上的机械应力。(The invention provides a capacitive gas sensor and a method of manufacturing the same, wherein the capacitive gas sensor comprises a th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510), a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520), a gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) arranged between the th and second electrodes to form a gas sensitive capacitor, the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) having a dielectric constant dependent on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from the ambient medium, and a dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) arranged at the interface of at least of the th and second electrodes with the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540), the dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) being adapted to absorb a thermally induced expansion of the at least of the th and second electrodes for reducing mechanical stress on the dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540).)
1, a capacitive gas sensor comprising:
th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510);
a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520);
a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) arranged between the th and the second electrode to form a gas-sensitive capacitor, the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) having a dielectric constant that depends on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from the ambient medium, and
a dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) disposed at an interface between the th and at least of the second electrodes and the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540), the dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) adapted to absorb thermally induced expansion of the at least of the th and second electrodes for reducing mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540).
2. The capacitive gas sensor according to claim 1,
the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) comprises a gas sensitive polymer, and
the dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) is permeable to gaseous compounds and/or comprises a polymer (240; 340; 440; 540) having a glass transition temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the gas-sensitive dielectric material.
3. The capacitive gas sensor according to claim 1 or 2,
the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) comprises layers or layers of sulfone-based polymers including polysulfone, polyethersulfone and polyphenylsulfone and any combination thereof, and/or
The gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) comprises layers or layers of polymers including cellulose acetate butyrate, polyamide-imide, polyetherimide and polyamide, and/or any combination thereof.
4. The capacitive gas sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to , wherein,
the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) is a sulfone-based polymer material; and is
The dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) is a polyimide material, or any polymer having a glass transition temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540).
5. The capacitive gas sensor of any one of claims 1 to 4 to , wherein,
the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) comprises a polymer material from the class of additive polymers, the polymer from the class of additive polymers comprising a cross-linking additive adapted to pin chains of the polymer material to increase resistance to chain orientation change under thermally-induced mechanical stress from the at least of the th and second electrodes.
6. The capacitive gas sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 5 to , wherein,
at least of the th and second electrodes have a porous structure adapted to pass through a gaseous compound.
7. The capacitive gas sensor according to claim 6,
at least of the th and second electrodes are made of a porous polymer material doped with conductive particles,
the thickness and/or porosity of the porous polymer material is selected to reduce thermal expansion of the respective electrode at a temperature close to the temperature of structural softening of the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440) to reduce mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440).
8. The capacitive gas sensor of any one of claims 1 to 7 to ,
an th electrode (210; 310; 410) is formed on the top side of the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440), which absorbs gaseous compounds from the environment,
a second electrode (220; 320; 420) is formed on the side of the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440) opposite the top side, and
a dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450) is formed directly on the top side of the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440) to separate it from the th electrode (210; 310; 410).
9. The capacitive gas sensor according to claim 8,
the capacitive gas sensor is integrated in a semiconductor circuit substrate (330),
the second electrode (320) is arranged directly on the semiconductor circuit substrate (330),
the th electrode (310) is connected to a patch in the semiconductor circuit substrate (330) by a via (360) through the dielectric electrode interface material (350) and the gas sensitive dielectric material (340).
10. The capacitive gas sensor according to claim 8,
at least of the th electrode (410), the dielectric-electrode interface material (450), and the gas-sensitive dielectric material (440) have a perforated structure that includes or more perforations (460) to facilitate absorption and/or adsorption of gaseous compounds by the gas-sensitive dielectric material (440).
11. The capacitive gas sensor of any one of claims 1 to 7 to ,
the th electrode includes or more th electrode islands, which are electrically connected to each other to serve as a single electrode,
the second electrode includes or more second electrode islands, which are electrically connected to each other to serve as a single electrode,
the th electrode island is interleaved with the second electrode islands to form an interdigitated electrode structure, the gas sensitive dielectric material being located between adjacent electrode islands,
a dielectric-electrode interface material is formed between the gas sensitive dielectric material and each electrode island.
12, a capacitive gas sensor comprising:
th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510);
a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520); and
a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) arranged between the th and the second electrode to form a gas-sensitive capacitor, the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) being adapted to absorb gaseous compounds from an ambient medium and having a dielectric constant which depends on the amount of absorbed gaseous compounds;
the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) comprises a polymer material from the class of additive polymers, the polymer from the class of additive polymers comprising a cross-linking additive adapted to pin chains of the polymer material to increase resistance to chain orientation change under thermally-induced mechanical stress from the at least of the th and second electrodes.
A capacitive gas sensor of the type , comprising:
th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510);
a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520); and
a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) arranged between the th and the second electrode to form a gas-sensitive capacitance, the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) being adapted to absorb gaseous compounds from the environment and having a dielectric constant which depends on the amount of absorbed gas held within the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540);
at least of the th and second electrodes are made of a porous polymer material doped with conductive particles,
the thickness and/or porosity of the porous polymer material is selected to reduce thermal expansion of the respective electrode at a temperature close to the temperature at which the structure of the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440) begins to soften, to reduce mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440).
14, A method of manufacturing a capacitive gas sensor having a electrode (210; 310; 410; 510), a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520) and a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) disposed between the and the second electrode, having a dielectric constant that depends on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from an ambient medium, the method comprising:
providing a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520);
forming a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) on the second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520);
depositing a dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) to cover a region of the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540); and
depositing an th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510) onto the area covered by the dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550);
wherein the dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550) is selected to be a dielectric polymer material adapted to absorb the thermal expansion of the th and the at least of the second electrodes for reducing mechanical stress on the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540).
15, A method of manufacturing a capacitive gas sensor having a electrode (210; 310; 410; 510), a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520) and a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) arranged between the and the second electrode, having a dielectric constant that depends on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from an ambient medium, the method comprising:
providing a second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520);
forming a gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) on the second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520);
forming th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510) on the area covered by the dielectric-electrode interface material (250; 350; 450; 550), wherein,
the th electrode (210; 310; 410; 510), the second electrode (220; 320; 420; 520) and/or the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540) are designed to minimize mechanical stress applied by the th and/or second electrode at the interface with the gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540), wherein:
from a polymer material having an added polymer grade for forming a gas sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440; 540), the polymer having an added polymer grade comprising a cross-linking additive adapted to pin chains of the polymer material to increase resistance to chain orientation change under thermally-induced mechanical stress from the at least of the th and second electrodes, and/or
At least of the th and second electrodes are made of a porous polymer material doped with conductive particles, the thickness and/or porosity of the porous polymer material being selected to reduce thermal expansion of the respective electrode at a temperature close to the temperature at which the structure of the gas-sensitive dielectric material (240; 340; 440) softens.
Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to capacitive gas sensors for detecting and/or measuring the concentration of gaseous compounds (e.g., relative humidity) in an ambient medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a capacitive gas sensor having a design that provides fast sensor response and is less affected by thermal stresses from manufacturing processes used in semiconductor technology, such as reflow assembly processes.
Background
The basic operating principle consists in measuring the capacitance of a gas-sensitive dielectric material across a plurality of electrodes, the dielectric constant of which varies with the amount of gas and/or humidity absorbed, the dielectric constant of which varies with the amount of gas and/or humidity, then the measurement of the sensor capacitance indicates the gas concentration in the surrounding medium.
For example, patent US 6,450,026 describes conventional designs of capacitive sensors for measuring humidity, this sensor comprises two electrodes separated by a moisture absorbing dielectric material electrodes are made of non-metallic porous material to allow moisture to pass through the electrodes, which are conductive by containing conductive particles, another electrodes are made by using non-porous metal plates.
An integrated capacitive sensor design is also proposed, such as described in publication US2014/0197500A 1. an integrated capacitive sensor includes a bottom electrode layer and a landing pad formed on a portion of a passivation layer located over an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a gas sensitive layer formed on the bottom electrode layer and the landing pad, a via hole exposing portion of the landing pad through the gas sensitive layer, and a top electrode layer formed on the gas sensitive layer.
Organic materials (e.g., polymers) are commonly used as gas sensitive dielectric materials due to their advantages in linear response and low hysteresis. In particular, polyimide provides good ease of use in adsorbing retained gas (or humidity) in response to a decrease in relative humidity and high heat resistance. However, polyimides suffer from certain drawbacks, such as low sensitivity to humidity values below 5% RH and very long stabilization times.
Sulfone-based polymers are also used in capacitive gas sensors because they have the advantage of faster response times than polyimides. However, it is noted that capacitive humidity sensors using sulfone-based polymers for the gas sensitive dielectric exhibit an undesirable forward shift in Relative Humidity (RH) measurements after the sensor has undergone a reflow assembly process during which the temperature increases significantly. The specification requirements for humidity sensors are typically +/-3% RH.
Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a conventional integrated capacitive gas sensor 100 in which there is a shift in the% RH response. The capacitive gas sensor 100 includes a porous top electrode 110, a bottom electrode 120 formed directly on a substrate 130 including an ASIC (not shown), and a gas-sensitive polymer dielectric 140 located between the top electrode 110 and the bottom electrode 120. The bottom electrode 120 is made of a noble metal, such as gold, with a thickness of about 80 nm. A thin polyimide adhesion layer 170 (e.g., about 80nm) may be formed on the bottom electrode 120 to promote adhesion of the polymer dielectric. The polymer dielectric 140 of the sulfone-based polymer may have a thickness of about 2.7 μm. The porous top electrode 110 is made of an organic polymer (doped conductive particles) and has a thickness in the range of 10 to 30 μm. The porous top electrode 110 is connected to the active circuitry in the substrate 130 by vias 160 through the gas sensitive polymer dielectric 140 and the adhesion layer 170.
In this type of sensor design, a response excursion of about + 6% Rh was measured after a typical reflow soldering process that included thermal cycling with a peak temperature of 250 ℃ during 30 seconds.
Polyimide is not sensitive to the reflow process, but an undesirable negative shift in relative humidity% RH is also found in gas sensors using polyimide as the gas sensitive dielectric. However, the response time of polyimides is about three times slower than sulfone-based polymers, which makes them less attractive for applications requiring faster sensor response.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a capacitive gas sensor design that provides a sensor response that is fast, or at least comparable to the response time achieved using sulfone-based polymers, and is less susceptible to thermal processing commonly used in semiconductor technology, such as reflow assembly processes.
Disclosure of Invention
The present invention has been made in view of the drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art, and has an object to provide capacitive gas sensors capable of providing a fast response time and designed to make the capacitive sensor responsiveness insensitive to thermal processes such as a reflow assembly process conventionally used in semiconductor technology, and to provide methods of manufacturing the capacitive gas sensors.
This object is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims advantageous embodiments of the invention are subject matter of the dependent claims.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided capacitive gas sensor comprising a electrode, a second electrode, a gas sensitive dielectric material disposed between the and second electrodes to form a gas sensitive capacitor, the gas sensitive dielectric material having a dielectric constant dependent on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from the ambient medium, and a dielectric-electrode interface material disposed at the interface between the and at least of the second electrodes and the gas sensitive dielectric material, the dielectric-electrode interface material being adapted to absorb a thermally induced expansion of the and the at least of the second electrodes to reduce mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the gas sensitive dielectric material comprises a gas sensitive polymer, and the dielectric-electrode interface material is permeable to gaseous compounds, and/or comprises a polymer having a glass transition temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the gas sensitive dielectric material.
According to embodiments of the present invention, the gas-sensitive dielectric material comprises layers or layers of sulfone-based polymers including polysulfone, polyethersulfone and polyphenylsulfone, and any combinations thereof, and/or layers or layers of polymers including cellulose acetate butyrate, polyamide-imide, polyetherimide and polyamide, and/or any combinations thereof, or similar polymeric materials that are sensitive to gases.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the gas sensitive dielectric material is a sulfone-based polymer material; and the dielectric-electrode interface material is a polyimide material, or any polymer having a glass transition temperature higher than that of the gas-sensitive dielectric material.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the gas sensitive dielectric material comprises a polymer material from a polymer grade with additives, the polymer grade with additives comprising a cross-linking additive adapted to pin chains of the polymer material to increase resistance to chain orientation change under thermally induced mechanical stress from at least of the th and second electrodes.
According to an embodiment of the invention, at least of the th and second electrodes have a porous structure adapted to pass through a gaseous compound.
According to an embodiment of the invention, at least of the th and second electrodes are made of a porous polymer material doped with conductive particles, the thickness and/or porosity of the porous polymer material being selected to reduce thermal expansion of the respective electrode at a temperature close to the temperature at which the gas sensitive dielectric material structurally softens to reduce mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an th electrode is formed on the top side of the gas sensitive dielectric material that absorbs gaseous compounds from the environment, a second electrode is formed on the side of the gas sensitive dielectric material opposite the top side, and a dielectric-electrode interface material is formed directly on the top side of the gas sensitive dielectric material to separate it from the th electrode.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the capacitive gas sensor is integrated in a semiconductor circuit substrate, the second electrode is arranged directly on the semiconductor circuit substrate, and the th electrode is connected to a patch in the semiconductor circuit substrate by a through hole through the dielectric electrode interface material and the gas sensitive dielectric material.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least of the th electrode, the dielectric-electrode interface material, and the gas-sensitive dielectric material have a perforated structure comprising or more perforations to facilitate absorption and/or adsorption of gaseous compounds by the gas-sensitive dielectric material.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the th electrode includes or more th electrode islands electrically connected to each other to serve as a single electrode, a second electrode is provided as or more second electrode islands electrically connected to each other to serve as a single electrode, the th electrode islands are interleaved with the second electrode islands to form an interdigitated electrode structure, a gas sensitive dielectric material is located between adjacent electrode islands, and a dielectric-electrode interface material is formed between the gas sensitive dielectric material and each electrode island.
According to the present invention, there is provided capacitive gas sensor comprising a th electrode, a second electrode, and a gas sensitive dielectric material disposed between the th and second electrodes to form a gas sensitive capacitor, the gas sensitive dielectric material being adapted to absorb gaseous compounds from an ambient medium and having a dielectric constant dependent on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed.
According to the present invention, there are provided capacitive gas sensors comprising a electrode, a second electrode, and a gas sensitive dielectric material arranged between the and second electrodes to form a gas sensitive capacitance, the gas sensitive dielectric material being adapted to absorb gaseous compounds from the environment and having a dielectric constant dependent on the amount of gas absorbed that remains within the gas sensitive dielectric material, wherein at least of the and second electrodes are made of a porous polymer material doped with electrically conductive particles, the thickness and/or porosity of the porous polymer material being selected to reduce the thermal expansion of the respective electrode at a temperature close to the temperature at which the structure of the gas sensitive dielectric material starts to soften, to reduce mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material.
The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a capacitive gas sensor having a electrode, a second electrode and a gas sensitive dielectric material disposed between the and second electrodes, the dielectric constant of which is dependent on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from the ambient medium, the method comprising providing the second electrode, forming the gas sensitive dielectric material on the second electrode, depositing a dielectric-electrode interface material covering a region of the gas sensitive dielectric material, and depositing the electrode onto the region covered by the dielectric-electrode interface material, wherein the dielectric-electrode interface material is selected to be a dielectric polymer material adapted to absorb the thermal expansion of the at least of the and second electrodes, for reducing mechanical stress on the gas sensitive dielectric material.
The present invention also provides a method of making a capacitive gas sensor having a th electrode, a second electrode and a gas sensitive dielectric material disposed between the th and second electrodes, the permittivity of which is dependent on the amount of gaseous compounds absorbed from the ambient medium, the method comprising providing the second electrode, forming the gas sensitive dielectric material on the second electrode, forming a th electrode on said region covered by the dielectric-electrode interface material, wherein the th electrode, the second electrode and/or the gas sensitive dielectric material are designed to minimize the mechanical stress exerted by the th and/or second electrode at the interface with the gas sensitive dielectric material, wherein the polymer material from the polymer grade with additives for forming the gas sensitive dielectric material, which polymer grade with additives comprises a cross-linking additive adapted to pin the chains of the polymer material to increase the resistance to chain orientation changes under thermally induced mechanical stress from at least of the th and second electrodes, and/or at least th and second electrodes are made of a porous material with a pore size that is selected to reduce the thermal expansion of the polymer material and/or the porous dielectric material at least temperature.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification , are included to explain the principles of the invention and are not to be interpreted as limiting the invention to only the examples shown and described how the invention may be made and used.
Drawings
Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following and more detailed description of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a conventional capacitive gas sensor;
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of an illustrative capacitive gas sensor according to configuration ;
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a schematic integrated capacitive gas sensor according to a second configuration;
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a schematic capacitive gas sensor having a preferred construction according to a third configuration;
FIG. 5 is a schematic top side view of an illustrative capacitive gas sensor having interdigitated electrode structures in accordance with a fourth configuration;
fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the capacitive gas sensor shown in fig. 5 along direction AA'.
Detailed Description
The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the sensor capacitance between the electrodes is represented by a capacitance symbol.
As will be explained with reference to fig. 1, the undesirable offset measured after the capacitive humidity sensor has undergone a reflow process can be explained by an increase in the dielectric constant of its gas sensitive polymer dielectric.
In a thermal process such as reflow soldering, the temperature increase may cause thermal expansion of the porous top electrode 110, which results in additional mechanical stress being transferred through the interface between the porous top electrode 110 and the polymer dielectric 140 to the th layer of the polymer dielectric 140. in another aspect, the structure of the polymer dielectric 140 softens at a temperature near its glass transition temperature.
According to aspects of the invention, the sensitivity of a capacitive gas sensor to backflow can be significantly reduced or even prevented by forming or depositing a protective material at the interface between the gas sensitive dielectric and the capacitive sensor electrode(s) ( or more) that protects the gas sensitive dielectric from mechanical stress.
FIG. 2 schematically shows a cross-section of a
The
The gas sensitive
The dielectric
In addition, because polyimide is commonly used in the semiconductor industry as a high temperature adhesive layer, the formation of or more interfacial layers of polyimide can be easily integrated into the manufacturing process of capacitive gas sensors.
The gas-
In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the dielectric
The
Depending on the sensor parameters, the thickness of the dielectric
The th and
The protective action of the dielectric
FIG. 3 schematically depicts a configuration of an integrated capacitive gas sensor 300 having a dielectric protective layer in accordance with the principles of the present invention similar to the configuration described with reference to FIG. 1, the capacitive gas sensor 300 includes an th electrode 310, a second electrode 320 integrated on a semiconductor circuit substrate 330, and a gas-sensitive dielectric layer 340 formed between the th and second electrodes 310 and 320. the underlying substrate 330 includes active circuitry (or AISC) and corresponding conductive lines and patches for electrically connecting to the th and second electrodes 310 and 320 and measuring the capacitance of the gas sensor 300. the top electrode 310 is electrically connected to the conductive patches in the substrate 330 through vias 360. similar to the capacitive gas sensor 100 described with reference to FIG. 1, the top electrode 310 may be made of a non-porous polymer that is electrically conductive by containing conductive particles, and the bottom electrode 320 is formed of a noble metal such as gold.
In the integrated sensor configuration shown in fig. 3, the thermally induced mechanical stress is mainly from the porous top electrode 310. Thus, by forming the intermediate dielectric protective material 350 at the interface between the top electrode 310 and the gas-sensitive dielectric layer 340, the mechanical pressure exerted on the underlying gas-sensitive dielectric material 340 can be reduced and/or eliminated. In general, the gas-sensitive dielectric layer 340 and the dielectric shield material 350 can be formed of any of the materials described above for the gas-
The integrated capacitive gas sensor 300 may further comprise a thin adhesive layer 370 formed over the patterned substrate 330 and the bottom electrode 320 for increasing the adhesion of the gas sensitive dielectric material 340. for adhesive layers made of polyimide, a thickness of about 80nm is sufficient to reduce the effects of thermally induced mechanical stress from the bottom electrode 320, whether the bottom electrode is a metal electrode or a porous polymer electrode. accordingly, in a capacitive sensor configuration of the bottom electrode 320 having similar characteristics as the porous top electrode 310, a layer of dielectric protective material having a thickness in the range of 80 to 150nm may be provided at the interface between the gas sensitive dielectric layer 340 and the bottom electrode 320 for reducing the effects of mechanical stress thereon in addition to or in place of the adhesive layer 370. in this case , the dielectric protective layer also provides the function of the adhesive layer 370.
Similar to capacitive
FIG. 4 depicts a
The design of the
The gas-
Similar to the above embodiments, the
The
In an alternative configuration, the
In the capacitive gas sensor designs described with reference to fig. 2-4, the capacitive sensor electrodes are stacked vertically with the respective protective interface and gas sensitive material layers disposed therebetween. However, the principles of the present invention may also be applied to capacitive gas sensors having an interdigitated structure, such as
However, lateral expansion of the interdigitated electrodes due to temperature increases may also place mechanical stress on the gas sensitive dielectric material between adjacent electrodes and thus change the dielectric constant, which may result in a loss of the benefits of customizable sensor capacitance.
5-6,
A gas sensitive
As shown in fig. 6, a dielectric protective material 550 is applied to the surfaces of
Any of the gas sensitive dielectric materials and dielectric protective materials mentioned above with reference to fig. 2-4 can be used in the interdigital
and
The capacitive gas sensor designs described with reference to fig. 2-6 can be fabricated using methods commonly used in the semiconductor industry and therefore will not be described in detail herein, for example, the capacitive gas sensor as shown in fig. 2-6 can be fabricated by a method comprising the steps of providing a second electrode, forming a gas sensitive dielectric material on the second electrode, depositing a dielectric protective material to cover areas of the gas sensitive dielectric material, and depositing a th electrode on the area covered by the dielectric protective material.
The dielectric protective material is then selected as a dielectric polymer material that is adapted to absorb thermal expansion of at least of the th and second electrodes to reduce the mechanical stress exerted on the gas sensitive dielectric material, such as any of the polymer materials mentioned above with reference to fig. 2.
Since the above-mentioned dielectric protection materials are commonly used in capacitive gas sensors to provide other functions, the principles of the present invention can be easily integrated into existing integrated circuit fabrication processes, such as CMOS processes, without significantly increasing the cost or changing the corresponding fabrication process. The use of a polyimide dielectric protective layer in a capacitive humidity sensor allows the same RH sensitivity to be achieved with less sensitivity to thermal treatment, but if the polyimide protective layer is too thick, the sensor may exhibit higher hysteresis and longer response time. If the polyimide protective layer is relatively thin, the effect on hysteresis and response time is very small.
According to aspects of the invention, the sensitivity of the capacitive gas sensor to backflow can also be significantly reduced or prevented by changing the structure of the th electrode, the second electrode, and/or the gas sensitive dielectric material in any of the gas sensor configurations described above to minimize the mechanical stress applied by the th and/or second electrode at the interface with the gas sensitive dielectric material at temperatures near the softening temperature of the gas sensitive dielectric material structure.
For example, in any of the electrode configurations described with reference to fig. 2-4, parameters of the top electrode, such as thickness and/or porosity level, may be optimized in order to obtain a top electrode that exhibits minimal thermal expansion and thus minimal mechanical stress. For example, the top electrode may be formed from a porous polymer doped with conductive particles as described above, and have a thickness reduced to a critical thickness below the typical thickness of 10-30 μm at which the effects of thermal expansion at the reflow peak temperature are significantly reduced, while still providing the necessary electrical continuity. The doping concentration of the conductive particles may be increased to compensate for the reduced thickness of the top electrode.
Additionally or alternatively, the porosity of the porous polymer may be increased above levels commonly used in conventional porous electrodes to achieve an optimal porosity at which the effects of thermal expansion are not significant at temperatures near the glass transition temperature of the gas-sensitive dielectric material.
The principles of electrode optimization described above can also be applied to the bottom electrode in a sensor having a stacked electrode configuration, or to interdigitated electrodes as described with reference to fig. 5-6, if desired. The optimum thickness and/or porosity of the gas sensor electrode can be determined empirically from the characteristics of the capacitive gas sensor, i.e. the materials used for the electrode and/or the gas-sensitive dielectric, in order to obtain a thickness and/or porosity level that minimizes the effects of thermal expansion. Optimization of electrode thickness and/or porosity may imply variations in composition and/or manufacturing process. However, electrode optimization allows for a capacitor sensor design that is less sensitive to the reflow process while exhibiting the same RH sensitivity, hysteresis, and response time as compared to capacitor sensor designs with conventional electrode parameters.
Additionally or alternatively, by using a polymer material with additives as the gas sensitive dielectric material, thermally induced mechanical stresses exerted on the gas sensitive polymer dielectric by the sensor electrodes can also be reduced or avoided. The polymeric material with additives may be selected from polymer grades with additives derived from a substrate polymer doped with a crosslinking additive. The crosslinking additive has the function of pinning the substrate polymer chains, thereby increasing the resistance of the substrate polymer chains to orientation changes under thermally induced mechanical stress. The use of a crosslinking additive polymer has the advantage of reducing the sensitivity of the gas sensor to the reflow process while achieving similar RH sensitivity, the same hysteresis, and response time as compared to a gas sensor using the same substrate polymer material but without the crosslinking additive.
The capacitive gas sensor can be manufactured by techniques used in the semiconductor industry, including providing a second electrode, forming a gas sensitive dielectric material on the second electrode, depositing a dielectric protective material to cover areas of the gas sensitive dielectric material, and depositing a th electrode on the area covered by the dielectric protective material.
The th electrode, the second electrode, and/or the gas sensitive dielectric material are then designed to minimize mechanical stress exerted by the th and/or the second electrode at interfaces interfacing with the gas sensitive dielectric material, in that a polymer material from an additive polymer grade is used to form the gas sensitive dielectric material, an additive polymer grade (adductive polymer grade) polymer including a crosslinking additive is adapted to pin chains of the polymer material to increase resistance to chain orientation changes under thermally induced mechanical stress induced by at least of the th and second electrodes.
The dielectric protective materials, optimized electrodes, and polymers with crosslinking additives described above all solve the same problem of preventing an increase in the dielectric constant of the gas sensitive polymer composition, and thus, can be advantageously implemented independently or in any combination thereof in any of the capacitive gas sensor configurations described above with reference to fig. 2-6 or in other capacitive gas sensor designs (if applicable). For example, in the case where optimized top electrodes and/or crosslinking additives are used, the dielectric protective layer may be omitted.
In summary, the present invention provides a capacitive sensor design for measuring the concentration of gaseous compounds (e.g., relative humidity) in a medium, wherein the gas sensitive components of the sensor are free or less affected by mechanical constraints at temperatures near the glass transition temperature of the gas sensitive components, and thus have a response that is unaffected by the reflow soldering process as well as high temperature storage (e.g., 80 ℃ to 250 ℃). The overall thermal resistance is increased, allowing new applications at high temperatures.
Although terms such as "top" and "bottom" are used to describe certain features of the above-described exemplary embodiments, these terms are merely used to facilitate describing the corresponding features within the optical module and their relative orientations, and should not be construed as limiting the claimed invention or any portion thereof to a particular spatial orientation.
Reference numerals
100 conventional capacitive gas sensor
110 top electrode
120 bottom electrode
130 base plate
140 polymeric dielectric layer
160 through hole
170 adhesive layer
200 capacitance type gas sensor
210 th th electrode, top electrode
220 second electrode, bottom electrode
230 base plate
240 gas sensitive dielectric layer
250 dielectric protective material
300 integrated capacitive gas sensor
310 th th electrode, top electrode
320 second electrode, bottom electrode
330 semiconductor circuit board
340 gas sensitive dielectric layer
350 dielectric protection material
360 through hole
370 adhesive layer
400 pass capacitive gas sensor
410 th th electrode, top electrode
420 second electrode, bottom electrode
440 gas sensitive dielectric layer
450 dielectric protective material
460 perforation
500 integrated capacitive gas sensor
510 th th electrode, top electrode
510a-510c th electrode island
515 conducting band
520 second electrode, bottom electrode
520a-520b second electrode islands
525 conducting band
530 substrate
540 gas sensitive dielectric layer
550 dielectric protective material
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