Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A micromechanical component, having a substrate and a functional element, the functional element having a functional surface which has an anti-adhesion layer, that has been applied at least in regions, for reducing the surface adhesion forces, and in which the anti-adhesion layer is stable to a temperature of more than 800° C.

Abstract: 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° C. and ca. 1400° C., in order to close the generated pores again and to enclose the filling material.

Abstract: A capping technology is provided in which, despite the fact that structures which are surrounded by a silicon-germanium filling layer are exposed using ClF3 etching 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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 and anchors to secure the mechanical structures to the substrate. The anchors of the present invention are comprised of a material that is relatively unaffected by the release processes of the mechanical structures. In this regard, the etch release process are selective or preferential to the material(s) securing the mechanical structures in relation to the material comprising the anchors. Moreover, the anchors of the present invention are secured to the substrate in such a manner that removal of the insulation layer has little to no affect on the anchoring of the mechanical structures to the substrate.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A method for etching a layer that is to be removed on a substrate, in which a Si1-xGex layer 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 ClF3. The etching behavior of the Si1-xGex layer can be controlled via the Ge portion in the Si1-xGex layer. 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 Si1-xGex layer, as a sacrificial layer or filling layer, is etched highly selectively relative to silicon.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A method and device are for anchoring fixed structural elements and, e.g., for anchoring electrodes for components, e.g., SOI wafer components, whose component structure is formed in a silicon layer on top of a substrate used as support. The fixed element may be mechanically connected to the substrate via at least one anchoring element made of an anchoring material and extending through the silicon layer. In the case of an SOI wafer, the anchoring element may extend through the silicon layer and the sacrificial layer of the SOI wafer. To this end, in the area of the surface of the fixed element, at least one recess is made in the silicon layer, which may extend through the entire silicon layer and the sacrificial layer down to the substrate. The recess may then be filled with an anchoring material, so that the fixed element is mechanically connected to the substrate via the anchoring element that is thereby created.

Abstract: 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 and anchors to secure the mechanical structures to the substrate. The anchors of the present invention are comprised of a material that is relatively unaffected by the release processes of the mechanical structures. In this regard, the etch release process are selective or preferential to the material(s) securing the mechanical structures in relation to the material comprising the anchors. Moreover, the anchors of the present invention are secured to the substrate in such a manner that removal of the insulation layer has little to no affect on the anchoring of the mechanical structures to the substrate.

Abstract: 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 and a contact area disposed at least partially outside the chamber. The contact area is electrically isolated from nearby electrically conducting regions by way of dielectric isolation trench that is disposed around the contact area. 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.