The invention relates to a MEMS pressure sensor and a manufacturing method thereof, wherein the application number is 202110710324.4, the application date is 2021, 6 and 25.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a MEMS pressure sensor and a manufacturing method thereof, which are used for improving the sensitivity and stability of the pressure sensor and reducing the size of the pressure sensor.
In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention provides a MEMS pressure sensor, which includes four stripe-shaped protrusions arranged on a first plane, wherein each stripe-shaped protrusion includes a P-type heavily doped layer, a plurality of electrodes, wherein each electrode is used for each stripe-shaped protrusion to access an input electrical signal and output an electrical signal, each electrode and each stripe-shaped protrusion form a wheatstone bridge, and a strained thin film layer is disposed between a cavity and the wheatstone bridge.
According to one embodiment of the invention, an N-type device layer is arranged below the four strip-shaped protrusions, the N-type device layer is a low-doped N-type silicon layer, and the side walls of the four protrusions at least expose the P-type heavily doped layer.
According to one embodiment of the invention, each strip-shaped protrusion further comprises a P-type lightly doped layer positioned below the P-type heavily doped layer, the side walls of the four protrusions at least expose the P-type heavily doped layer and the P-type lightly doped layer, an N-type device layer is positioned below the four strip-shaped protrusions, and the N-type device layer is a low-doped N-type silicon layer.
According to one embodiment of the invention, each strip-shaped protrusion comprises a piezoresistor part and two lead parts, wherein two ends of the piezoresistor part are respectively connected with one lead part, and the linewidth of the piezoresistor part is smaller than that of the lead parts along the direction opposite to the first direction.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the four strip-shaped protrusions are arranged in parallel and sequentially comprise a first strip-shaped protrusion, a second strip-shaped protrusion, a third strip-shaped protrusion and a fourth strip-shaped protrusion, each strip-shaped protrusion comprises a first wire part and a second wire part, the first wire part and the second wire part are symmetrically arranged, and the first wire part and the second wire part are respectively offset by a preset distance from a symmetry axis and are used for connecting the piezoresistor part.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the piezoresistor part in the first strip-shaped bulge protrudes outwards from one side of the first strip-shaped bulge away from the second strip-shaped bulge, the piezoresistor part in the second strip-shaped bulge protrudes outwards from one side of the second strip-shaped bulge away from the first strip-shaped bulge, the piezoresistor part in the third strip-shaped bulge protrudes outwards from one side of the third strip-shaped bulge away from the fourth strip-shaped bulge, and the piezoresistor part in the fourth strip-shaped bulge protrudes outwards from one side of the fourth strip-shaped bulge away from the third strip-shaped bulge.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the piezoresistor part comprises a piezoresistor, the piezoresistor in each strip-shaped bulge is in one of a U-shaped, V-shaped or cascade shape formed by a plurality of V-shaped or U-shaped, and the piezoresistors are arranged in an axisymmetric manner by taking the symmetry axis as a central axis.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the shape of the piezoresistor in each of the strip-shaped protrusions is the same.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the varistor part comprises a plurality of strip-shaped varistors and a third wire part for connecting the plurality of strip-shaped varistors in series, the linewidth of the strip-shaped varistors is smaller than that of the third wire part, the plurality of strip-shaped varistors are parallel to the symmetry axis and are symmetrically distributed by taking the symmetry axis as a central axis, and the plurality of third wire parts are perpendicular to the symmetry axis.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the four strip-shaped bulges are arranged in parallel and sequentially comprise a first strip-shaped bulge, a second strip-shaped bulge, a third strip-shaped bulge and a fourth strip-shaped bulge, and the plurality of electrodes comprise a first input electrode, a second input electrode, a first output electrode, a second output electrode, a first grounding electrode and a second grounding electrode;
One end of the first strip-shaped bulge is connected with the first input electrode, the other end of the first strip-shaped bulge is connected with the first output electrode, one end of the second strip-shaped bulge is connected with the first output electrode, the other end of the second strip-shaped bulge is connected with the first grounding electrode, one end of the third strip-shaped bulge is connected with the second input electrode, the other end of the third strip-shaped bulge is connected with the second output electrode, one end of the fourth strip-shaped bulge is connected with the second output electrode, and the other end of the fourth strip-shaped bulge is connected with the second grounding electrode.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first input electrode, the second input electrode, the first output electrode, the second output electrode, the first ground electrode, and the second ground electrode are all metal electrodes.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first input electrode, the second input electrode, the first output electrode, the second output electrode, the first ground electrode, and the second ground electrode are all disposed in the same layer as the first stripe-shaped protrusion, the second stripe-shaped protrusion, the third stripe-shaped protrusion, and the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, four stripe-shaped protruding regions, a first input electrode region, a first output electrode region, a second input electrode region, a first ground electrode region, and a second ground electrode region are arranged on the first plane, and each of the electrode regions is isolated by a groove.
In order to achieve the above object, a second aspect of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a MEMS pressure sensor, which is applied to the MEMS pressure sensor as described above, and includes the steps of providing a substrate, wherein the substrate includes an N-type device layer, performing P-type heavy doping on an entire surface of one side of the N-type device layer to form a P-type heavy doped layer, forming four strip-shaped protrusions by using an etching process, wherein side walls of the four strip-shaped protrusions at least expose the P-type heavy doped layer, forming a plurality of electrodes, each electrode being used for each strip-shaped protrusion to access an electrical signal and output an electrical signal, each electrode and each strip-shaped protrusion forming a wheatstone bridge, etching the substrate to form a cavity, and forming a strained thin film layer between the cavity and the wheatstone bridge.
According to the MEMS pressure sensor and the manufacturing method thereof provided by the embodiment of the invention, by arranging the four strip-shaped bulges, when the strain film layer is stressed, the stress is maximum for the edge and the center of the strain film layer, the stress is more concentrated on the surface of the bulge strip-shaped piezoresistor, and the sensitivity is high and the linearity is good. In addition, the parasitic parameter between the heavily doped layer and the substrate is smaller, and the parasitic parameter is closer to an ideal PN junction between the heavily doped layer and the substrate, so that the heavily doped layer has higher breakdown voltage and lower leakage current, and further has higher reliability and long-term stability. Because the doping concentration of the surface of the strip-shaped bulge is higher, the device can realize lower sensitivity temperature drift. The MEMS pressure sensor has the advantages of simple structure, low process cost and mass production, and only 1 photomask is needed in the preparation process of the piezoresistor strip. In addition, in the two embodiments of the invention, the embodiment of the first cavity which is an open cavity can be used for measuring the relative differential pressure, and the embodiment of the first cavity which is a vacuum sealing cavity can be used for measuring the absolute pressure.
Detailed Description
The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting thereof. It should be further noted that, for convenience of description, only some, but not all of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings.
Fig. 1 is a top view of a MEMS pressure sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in connection with fig. 1 and 2, the MEMS pressure sensor 100 includes:
The semiconductor device comprises a supporting layer 101, an insulating layer 102, an N-type device layer 103 and a P-type heavily doped layer 104 which are sequentially stacked along a first direction, wherein the first direction is the direction in which the supporting layer 101 points to the P-type heavily doped layer 104 vertically;
Four strip-shaped protrusions arranged on a first plane, wherein each strip-shaped protrusion at least comprises a P-type heavily doped layer 104 along a first direction, and the first plane is a plane perpendicular to the first direction;
A plurality of electrodes 112, each electrode 112 for each bar-shaped protrusion being connected to an input electrical signal and an output electrical signal, each electrode and each bar-shaped protrusion constituting a Wheatstone bridge 105;
The support layer 101 is provided with a first cavity 106, and a strained thin film layer 107 is provided between the first cavity 106 and the wheatstone bridge 105.
Note that the perpendicular projection of the bottom surface of the first cavity 106 onto the insulating layer 102 covers the perpendicular projection of the wheatstone bridge 105 onto the insulating layer 102. Further, when the strained thin film layer 107 deforms through the first cavity 106, the four strip-shaped protrusions in the wheatstone bridge 105 located above the strained thin film layer 107 may also deform, and as the four strip-shaped protrusions deform, the resistance changes, and the strip-shaped protrusions located at the edge of the strained thin film layer 107 and the strip-shaped protrusions located at the center of the strained thin film layer 107 are opposite in stress direction (as shown in fig. 1, if the stress direction of the strained thin film layer 107 is upward, the strip-shaped protrusions located at the center are tensile stressed, and the strip-shaped protrusions located at the edge are compressive, otherwise, the strip-shaped protrusions located at the center are compressive, and the strip-shaped protrusions located at the edge are tensile. According to the characteristics of the wheatstone bridge, two output ports of the wheatstone bridge formed by the strip-shaped bulges are output with potential differences, and the output potential differences are in a direct proportion relation with the pressure applied to the strain film layer 107, so that the pressure applied to the strain film layer 107 is detected.
The supporting layer 101 may be a silicon layer, the insulating layer 102 may be a silicon dioxide layer, and the N-type device layer 103 may be a low-doped N-type silicon layer. The lightly doped element may be a boron element. The P-type heavily doped layer 104 may be a P-type heavily doped silicon layer, wherein the heavily doped element may be boron.
It will be appreciated that in a first direction (i.e., the y-direction in fig. 2), the support layer 101, insulating layer 102, and N-type device layer 103 together comprise a substrate, which may be rectangular as shown in fig. 1. The four stripe-shaped protrusions (the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108, the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109, the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110 and the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111) are arranged on a first plane, wherein the resistance values of the four stripe-shaped protrusions are equal, and the first plane may be the upper surface of the substrate. Because four strip-shaped bulges protrude out of the surface of the substrate, after the strain film layer 107 is stressed and deformed, the induced stress is concentrated on the P-type heavily doped layer on the surface of the piezoresistor part of the four strip-shaped bulges, so that the sensitivity of the pressure sensor is higher and the linearity is better.
The higher the doping concentration of the surface of each strip-shaped bulge is, the lower the sensitivity temperature coefficient of the pressure sensor is, the smaller the temperature drift is, and the higher doping concentration can realize higher doping uniformity, so that better device consistency is realized. Therefore, the four strip-shaped protrusions at least comprise the P-type heavily doped layer 104, so that the lower sensor sensitivity temperature coefficient and higher linearity are realized. Thus, the P-type heavily doped layer 104 acts as a resistor in the wheatstone bridge 105, such that the sensitivity of the MEMS pressure sensor to temperature changes is relatively reduced, being less affected by ambient temperature changes. The low sensitivity temperature coefficient and the high linearity enable the detection result to be more accurate, and the use environment of the pressure sensor is widened.
PN junction formed between the P-type heavily doped layer 104 and the N-type device layer 103 is a parallel plane junction, parasitic parameters between the raised P-type heavily doped layer 104 and the N-type device layer 103 are smaller, the PN junction can be regarded as an ideal PN junction, leakage current of the PN junction is lower, breakdown voltage is higher, the PN junction is represented on a pressure sensor, the pressure sensor has better long-term reliability and higher withstand operating temperature, and the use environment of the pressure sensor is further widened.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, the first cavity 106 is located on the surface of the support layer 101 on the side facing away from the insulating layer 102, and the first cavity 106 is an open cavity, and further, the MEMS pressure sensor of this structure can measure an open differential pressure.
Or as shown in fig. 3, the first cavity 106 is located on the surface of the support layer 101 adjacent to the insulating layer 102, and in this structure, the first cavity 106 is sealed by the insulating layer 102 and the support layer 101, so as to form a vacuum sealed cavity, and the absolute pressure can be measured.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, each stripe-shaped protrusion further comprises a P-type lightly doped layer 113 along the first direction, wherein the P-type lightly doped layer 113 is located between the N-type device layer 103 and the P-type heavily doped layer 104.
It is understood that the P-type lightly doped layer 113 may be a P-type lightly doped silicon layer, wherein the lightly doped element may be boron element. On the first plane, a PN junction is formed among the P-type lightly doped layer 113, the P-type heavily doped layer 104 and the N-type device layer 103, and the junction depth of the PN junction including the P-type lightly doped layer 113 is deeper, so that the breakdown voltage is higher.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, each of the stripe-shaped protrusions includes a varistor portion 114 and two lead portions 115, and both ends of the varistor portion 114 are connected to one lead portion, respectively, wherein the line width of the varistor portion 114 is smaller than the line width of the lead portion 115 in the opposite direction of the first direction.
It can be understood that the line width of the varistor portion 114 is much smaller than that of the lead portion 115, so that the resistance of the varistor portion 114 is much greater than that of the lead portion 115, and the lead portion and the varistor portion are arranged in the same layer.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, four strip-shaped protrusions are arranged in parallel, and sequentially include a first strip-shaped protrusion 108, a second strip-shaped protrusion 109, a third strip-shaped protrusion 110 and a fourth strip-shaped protrusion 111, wherein each strip-shaped protrusion includes a first wire portion 1151 and a second wire portion 1152, the first wire portion 1151 and the second wire portion 1152 are symmetrically disposed, and the first wire portion 1151 and the second wire portion 1152 are offset by a predetermined distance with respect to a symmetry axis for connecting the varistor portion 114.
The four strip-shaped protrusions are symmetrical with respect to the lateral axis of the substrate, so that the resistances at both sides of the wheatstone bridge 105 are symmetrically distributed to realize accurate detection results.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, the varistor portion 114 in the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108 protrudes from the side of the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108 away from the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109, the varistor portion 114 in the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109 protrudes from the side of the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109 away from the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108, the varistor portion 114 in the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110 protrudes from the side of the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110 away from the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111, and the varistor portion 114 in the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111 protrudes from the side of the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111 away from the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110.
It can be understood that when the strain film layer 107 is deformed by pressure, the stress on the surface of the strain film layer is mainly concentrated in the center and the middle of the edge of the strain film layer, so that the piezoresistor portions 114 in the second strip-shaped protrusion 109 and the third strip-shaped protrusion 110 are arranged in the center as shown in fig. 5, and the piezoresistor portions 114 in the first strip-shaped protrusion 108 and the fourth strip-shaped protrusion 111 are arranged at the edge, so that the stress distribution is more concentrated on the piezoresistor portions 114, and the sensitivity of the pressure sensor can be improved.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, the varistor portion 114 includes a varistor 1141, and the varistor 1141 in each of the strip-shaped projections has an arrangement shape of one of a U-shape, a V-shape, and a cascade shape formed by a plurality of V-shapes or U-shapes, and the arrangement shapes of the varistor 1141 are all axisymmetrically distributed with the symmetry axis as the central axis. It should be noted that, the arrangement shape of the piezoresistors 1141 in each strip-shaped protrusion may be a straight line, the piezoresistors 1141 in the first strip-shaped protrusion 108 and the fourth strip-shaped protrusion 111 cannot be a straight line, if the straight line is directly connected with two wires, when the strain film layer 107 is deformed, the stress direction at the piezoresistors 1141 is along the symmetry axis, if the piezoresistors are arranged perpendicular to the symmetry axis, no stress component is generated in the direction of the symmetry axis, and no deformation signal is detected. Thus, the varistor 1141 in the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108 and the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 11 cannot be in a straight shape, and needs to have a component in the direction along the symmetry axis. The stress distribution of the piezoresistors in the second strip-shaped protrusion 109 and the third strip-shaped protrusion 110 is all directions, so that the piezoresistors in the second strip-shaped protrusion 109 and the third strip-shaped protrusion 110 can be in a straight line shape.
In addition, the piezoresistor 1141 in the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108 and the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111 has one of a U-shape, a V-shape, or a cascade shape composed of a plurality of V-shapes or U-shapes, and the piezoresistor 1141 in the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109 and the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110 has one of a one-shape, a U-shape, a V-shape, or a cascade shape composed of a plurality of V-shapes or U-shapes. The shapes of the piezoresistors in the four strip-shaped bulges can be freely matched and combined, and the resistance values of the resistors at two sides of the Wheatstone bridge 105 along the symmetry axis are ensured to be the same. Fig. 6 is merely an example. That is, the piezoresistors 1141 in the first and fourth stripe protrusions 108 and 111 have a U-shape, and the piezoresistors 1141 in the second and third stripe protrusions 109 and 110 have a linear shape.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 7, the shape of the varistor in each stripe-shaped protrusion is the same.
In order to improve the detection accuracy of the pressure sensor, the resistance values of the four strip-shaped protrusions can be kept identical, that is, the shape setting of the varistor portion of each strip-shaped protrusion is identical. Fig. 7 is merely an example. Namely, the piezoresistors 1141 in each stripe bump are cascaded in 2V-shapes.
In other embodiments, the piezo-resistive portion 114 may also be wavy or folded in shape, which may increase the resistance of the piezo-resistor 1141 in the piezo-resistive portion 114, and providing a wavy or folded shape may further reduce the size of the pressure sensor.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, the varistor portion 114 includes a plurality of varistor strips and a third lead portion for connecting the varistor strips in series, the varistor strips have a line width substantially smaller than that of the third lead portion, the varistor strips are parallel to the symmetry axis and are axially symmetrically distributed with the symmetry axis as the central axis, and the third lead portions are perpendicular to the symmetry axis.
Taking two stripe-shaped piezoresistors and a third lead portion as an example, as shown in fig. 8, the piezoresistor portion 114 includes a first stripe-shaped piezoresistor 1142, a second stripe-shaped piezoresistor 1143 and a third lead portion 1144, where the resistances of the first stripe-shaped piezoresistor 1142 and the second stripe-shaped piezoresistor 1143 are far greater than the resistance of the third lead portion 1144, and the third lead portion 1144 can be regarded as a lead, and in addition, the lengths of the first stripe-shaped piezoresistor 1142 and the second stripe-shaped piezoresistor 1143 along the direction of the symmetry axis can be adjusted according to the actual requirement, and the greater the resistance value of the required resistance is, the longer the set length is.
In other embodiments, a plurality of stripe-shaped piezoresistors may be provided in series with each other through a third wire portion.
Each strip-shaped piezoresistor is parallel to the symmetry axis, the third wire part is perpendicular to the symmetry axis, and the total resistance of the whole strip-shaped bulge can be adjusted according to actual requirements.
The electrodes in the wheatstone bridge 105 are described below.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9, four stripe-shaped protrusions are arranged in parallel, and sequentially include a first stripe-shaped protrusion 108, a second stripe-shaped protrusion 109, a third stripe-shaped protrusion 110, and a fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111, a plurality of electrodes 112 include a first input electrode 1121, a second input electrode 1122, a first output electrode 1123, a second output electrode 1124, a first ground electrode 1125, and a second ground electrode 1126;
One end of the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108 is connected with the first input electrode 1121, the other end is connected with the first output electrode 1123, one end of the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109 is connected with the first output electrode 1123, the other end is connected with the first grounding electrode 1125, one end of the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110 is connected with the second input electrode 1122, the other end is connected with the second output electrode 1124, one end of the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111 is connected with the second output electrode 1124, and the other end is connected with the second grounding electrode 1126.
The first input electrode 1121 and the second input electrode 1122 may have the same input electric signal, and may be the same electrode. The first ground electrode 1125 and the second ground electrode 1126 may be the same electrode. As shown in fig. 10 and 11, the four stripe-shaped protrusions and the respective electrodes form a wheatstone bridge. The first input electrode 1121 and the second input electrode 1122 are Vcc electrodes, the first output electrode 1123 is vout+ electrode, the second output electrode 1124 is Vout-electrode, and the first ground electrode 1125 and the second ground electrode 1126 are GND electrodes.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the first input electrode 1121, the second input electrode 1122, the first output electrode 1123, the second output electrode 1124, the first ground electrode 1125, and the second ground electrode 1126 are all metal electrodes.
The material of the metal electrode can be Cu, pt, au or the like.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first input electrode 1121, the second input electrode 1122, the first output electrode 1123, the second output electrode 1124, the first ground electrode 1125, and the second ground electrode 1126 are all disposed in the same layer as the first stripe-shaped protrusion 108, the second stripe-shaped protrusion 109, the third stripe-shaped protrusion 110, and the fourth stripe-shaped protrusion 111.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 12, four stripe-shaped convex regions arranged on a first plane, a first input electrode 1121 region, a first output electrode 1122 region, a second output electrode 1123 region, a second input electrode 1124 region, a first ground electrode 1125 region and a second ground electrode 1126 region are isolated from each other using a trench 116. It can be seen that the areas surrounded by the solid lines in fig. 10 are all trenches. Because the conductivity of the P-type heavily doped layer 104 is better, the P-type heavily doped layer 104 can be directly used as an electrode, and the utilization rate of materials is increased.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the bottom surface of trench 116 contacts at least the surface of the side of N-type device layer 103 facing away from insulating layer 102 that is not P-doped in the opposite direction from the first direction.
That is, the depth of the groove 116 is at least the same as the height of each of the stripe-shaped protrusions. It should be noted that the depth of the trench 116 needs to be greater than the entire thickness of the doped layer. So that the individual strip-shaped projections can be separated.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the supporting layer 101 may be a silicon layer, the insulating layer 102 may be a silicon dioxide layer, the N-type device layer 103 may be a low doped N-type silicon layer, the P-type heavily doped layer 104 may be a P-type heavily doped silicon layer, and the P-type lightly doped layer 113 may be a P-type lightly doped silicon layer. Wherein the insulating layer 102 may be arranged to electrically insulate the support layer 101. The support layer 101, the insulating layer 102, and the N-type device layer 103 may be configured as an SOI substrate.
Fig. 13 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a MEMS pressure sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method is applied to the MEMS pressure sensor as before. As shown in fig. 13, the method includes the steps of:
S101, providing a substrate, wherein the substrate comprises a supporting layer 101, an insulating layer 102 and an N-type device layer 103, and the substrate can be an SOI substrate.
S102, P-type heavily doped layer 104 is formed by P-type heavily doped on the whole surface of one side of N-type device layer 103 facing away from insulating layer 102 (without a photomask), wherein the formation of P-type heavily doped layer 104 can be realized by diffusion doping or ion implantation and doping methods well known to those skilled in the art, and the invention is not limited thereto.
The doping element of the P-type heavily doped layer 104 may be boron. The temperature coefficient of sensitivity of the surface of the pressure sensor is reduced, the temperature drift is reduced, and the detection precision of the pressure sensor is improved.
And S103, forming four strip-shaped protrusions by adopting an etching process, wherein the side walls of the four strip-shaped protrusions at least expose the P-type heavily doped layer 104, wherein the etching process can be dry etching or wet etching, and the formed four strip-shaped protrusions protrude out of the surface of the N-type device layer 103, so that stress concentration on the four strip-shaped protrusions is facilitated, and the sensitivity of the pressure sensor is improved. The line width of the four strip-shaped bulges can be controlled in an etching mode, so that piezoresistors in the four strip-shaped bulges can be made very thin, the resistance of each strip-shaped bulge is increased, the size of the pressure sensor is reduced, and the cost is reduced.
S104, forming a plurality of electrodes, wherein each electrode is used for connecting each strip-shaped bulge with an electric signal and outputting the electric signal, each electrode and each strip-shaped bulge form a Wheatstone bridge 105, and the Wheatstone bridge 105 can realize the conversion of force and the electric signal, so that the function of the pressure sensor is realized.
S105, etching a surface of the support layer 101 on a side facing away from the insulating layer 102 to form a first cavity 106, and forming a strained thin film layer 107 between the first cavity 106 and the wheatstone bridge 105. The thickness of the strained thin film layer 107 is related to the size of the pressure sensor and the measured pressure, and if the pressure to be detected is high, the strained thin film layer 107 may be thicker, whereas if the pressure to be detected is low, the strained thin film layer 107 may be thinner. The depth of the first cavity 106 is etched maximally through the support layer 101, preferably to a depth in the range of 20 micrometers to 800 micrometers. The sidewalls of the four stripe-shaped protrusions at least expose the P-type heavily doped layer 104, and at most can be etched through the N-type device layer 103. The specific numerical value is set according to the actual requirement. Furthermore, the chip area can be further reduced, the cost is reduced, or a thicker strain film layer is adopted under the condition of the same chip area, so that the linearity of the pressure sensor is improved.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the method comprises the steps of:
providing a substrate as a supporting layer 101;
etching a surface of one side of the supporting layer 101 to form a first cavity 106;
providing an N-type monocrystalline silicon wafer as an N-type device layer 103, and forming an insulating layer 102 on one side surface of the device layer 103;
The outer surface of the side, where the first cavity 106 is etched, of the supporting layer 101 is in bonding connection with the surface of the side, far away from the device layer 103, of the insulating layer 102 in a vacuum environment, so that the first cavity 106 is a vacuum-tight cavity;
Thinning the device layer 103;
P-type heavy doping is carried out on the whole surface of one side of the N-type device layer 103, which is far away from the insulating layer 102, so as to form a P-type heavy doping layer 104;
Forming four strip-shaped protrusions by adopting an etching process, wherein the side walls of the four strip-shaped protrusions at least expose the P-type heavily doped layer 104;
forming a plurality of electrodes, wherein each electrode is used for connecting each strip-shaped bulge with an electric signal and outputting the electric signal;
A strained thin film layer 107 is formed between the first cavity 106 and the wheatstone bridge 105.
This embodiment differs from the previous embodiment in that a first cavity 106 is formed on a side surface of the support layer 101 adjacent to the insulating layer 102 before the wheatstone bridge 105 is formed, and after the first cavity 106 is formed, the support layer 101 is bonded to the insulating layer 102, the N-type device layer 103 is formed on the insulating layer 102, and the wheatstone bridge 105 is formed on the N-type device layer 103, which can measure absolute pressure.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 14, before the P-type heavily doping is performed on the entire surface of the side, facing away from the insulating layer, of the N-type device layer in S102 to form a P-type heavily doped layer, the method further includes:
s1011, performing P-type light doping on the whole surface of one side of the N-type device layer 103, which is far away from the insulating layer 102, to form a P-type light doped layer 113 (without a photomask);
After the P-type heavily doped layer 104 is formed by P-type heavily doping the entire surface of the side, facing away from the insulating layer 102, of the N-type device layer 103 in S102, the method further includes:
and S1031, forming four strip-shaped protrusions by adopting an etching process, wherein the side walls of the four strip-shaped protrusions at least expose the P-type lightly doped layer 113 and the P-type heavily doped layer 104.
The P-type lightly doped layer 113 may be a P-type lightly doped silicon layer, wherein the lightly doped element may be boron element. Wherein, on the first plane, a PN junction is formed between the P-type lightly doped layer 113, the P-type heavily doped layer 104 and the N-type device layer 103, the junction depth of the PN junction including the P-type lightly doped layer 113 is deeper, is a bulk breakdown, and has a higher breakdown voltage so that the MEMS pressure sensor can operate at a higher temperature (for example, in an ambient temperature of 175 degrees). In addition, the P-type heavily doped layer 104 is arranged to enable the temperature drift to be smaller, so that the sensor calibration accuracy is higher, and the test calibration cost is lower.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 15, S104 forming a plurality of electrodes includes:
S1041, a plurality of electrodes are formed by electroplating or sputtering.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 16, S104 forming a plurality of electrodes includes:
s1042, forming a plurality of electrodes by etching, wherein the sidewall of the trench between the electrodes is at least exposed to the surface of the N-type device layer 103 which is not P-doped and is away from the insulation 102.
In this embodiment, the formation of the plurality of electrodes and the formation of the four stripe-shaped protrusions are completed by the same step, thereby saving process steps and simplifying the process flow. Wherein the structure of the four strip-shaped protrusions is the same as in the structural embodiment.
Specifically, fig. 17 to 21 are flowcharts of a method for manufacturing a MEMS pressure sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 17, 18, 19, 22 and 23 are flowcharts illustrating a method for manufacturing a MEMS pressure sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 24 to 26 are flowcharts illustrating a method for manufacturing a MEMS pressure sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the same steps as in the first two embodiments are not shown, please refer to the first two embodiments. In the examples, only one photomask is used, so that a smaller chip area is easy to realize, the process cost is low, and the mass production can be realized.
In summary, according to the MEMS pressure sensor and the manufacturing method thereof provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the MEMS pressure sensor includes a support layer, an insulating layer, an N-type device layer, and a P-type heavily doped layer sequentially stacked along a first direction, wherein the first direction is a direction in which the support layer is vertically directed to the P-type heavily doped layer, four strip-shaped protrusions arranged on a first plane, each strip-shaped protrusion includes the P-type heavily doped layer along the first direction, the first plane is a plane perpendicular to the first direction, a plurality of electrodes, each electrode is used for accessing an electrical signal and outputting an electrical signal by each strip-shaped protrusion, each electrode and each strip-shaped protrusion form a wheatstone bridge, and a strain film layer is disposed between the first cavity and the wheatstone bridge, so that when the strain film layer is stressed, the edge middle part and the center position of the strain film layer are maximized, the stress is more concentrated on the surface of the protrusion-shaped piezoresistor, and the sensitivity and linearity are good. In addition, the parasitic parameter between the P-type heavily doped layer and the substrate is smaller, and the parasitic parameter is closer to an ideal PN junction between the P-type heavily doped layer and the substrate, so that the P-type lightly doped layer is introduced between the P-type heavily doped layer and the N-type device layer, the junction depth of the PN junction is deepened, the breakdown voltage is further improved, and further the P-type lightly doped layer has higher reliability and long-term stability. Because the doping concentration of the surface of the strip-shaped bulge is higher, the device can realize lower sensitivity temperature drift. The MEMS pressure sensor has the advantages of simple structure, low process cost and mass production, and only 1 photomask is needed in the preparation process of the piezoresistor strip.
Note that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the technical principle applied. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, while the invention has been described in connection with the above embodiments, the invention is not limited to the embodiments, but may be embodied in many other equivalent forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.