SBIR Phase I: Nanoparticle Gaskets for Room Temperature MEMS Packaging

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发一种“纳米衬垫”技术，使用松散和压实的金属纳米颗粒用于称为压缩粘合密封包装（CBHP）的冷焊MEMS包装系统。CBHP将实现MEMS的低成本、室温、气密封装。室温封装对于提高许多MEMS，特别是光学MEMS（MEOMS）的生产良率至关重要。在纳米颗粒结构中观察到的显著的熔点降低和晶界滑动现象表明，在CBHP系统中使用纳米间隙可以使得能够使用具有比在硅晶片和其他MEMS衬底上可能的屈服强度高得多的屈服强度的冷焊垫片材料，以用于晶片级的封装。第一阶段的研究目标是证明这种效果与源散装和原位产生的纳米粒子。第二阶段将建造纳米垫版本的手动真空密封机，可以在SMD（Stellar Micro Devices）的铸造厂中进行小批量包装。在商业上，复杂的MEMS是该技术在70亿美元MEMS市场中的第一个商业目标。随着工具和封装供应变得更加广泛，该技术将通过更大的铸造厂和批量生产商的制造过程特许经营权应用于大众市场的MEMS。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a "nanogasket" technology using loose and compacted metallic nanoparticles for a cold weld MEMS packaging system called compression bonded hermetic packaging (CBHP). CBHP will enable low-cost, room temperature, hermetic packaging of MEMS. Room temperature packaging is vital to improving the production yields of many MEMS, especially optical MEMS (MEOMS). Remarkable melting point depression and grain boundary sliding phenomena observed in nanoparticle structures suggest that the use of nanogaskets in the CBHP system could enable the use of cold weld gasket materials with far higher yields strengths than would otherwise be possible on silicon wafers and other MEMS substrates, for packaging at the wafer scale. Phase I research objectives are to demonstrate this effect with sourced bulk and in situ produced nanoparticles. Phase IIwill result in the construction of a nanogasket version of manual vacuum sealing machine that can package small runs in a foundry operation at SMD (Stellar Micro Devices). Commercially, complex MEMS are the first commercial target for this technology in a $7 billion MEMS market. As tools and package supplies become more widely available, the technology will be applied to mass market MEMS through a larger foundry and franchising of the manufacturing process to volume producers.