Capacitive micromachined ultrasonics transducers with through-wafer interconnects
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) is a
promIsing candidate for making ultrasound transducer arrays for applications such as 3D medical
ultrasound, non-destructive evaluation and chemical sensing. Advantages of CMUTs over traditional
piezoelectric transducers include low-cost batch fabrication, wide bandwidth, and ability to
fabricate arrays with broad operation frequency range and different geometric configurations on a
single wafer. When incorporated with throughwafer interconnects, a CMUT array can be directly
integrated with a front-end integrated circuit (IC) to achieve compact packaging and to mitigate
the effects of the parasitic capacitance from the connection cables. Through-wafer via is the
existing interconnect scheme for CMUT arrays, and many other types of micro-electro-mechanical
system (MEMS) devices. However, to date, no successful through-wafer via fabrication technique
compatible with the wafer bonding method of making CMUT arrays has been demonstrated. The
through-wafer via fabrication steps degrade the surface conditions of the wafer, reduce the radius
of curvature, thus making it difficult to bond. This work focuses on new through-wafer interconnect
techniques that are compatible with common MEMS fabrication techniques, including both
surfacemicromachining and direct wafer-to-wafer fusion bonding. In this dissertation, first, a
through-wafer via interconnect technique with improved characteristics is presented. Then, two
implementations of through-wafer trench isolation are demonstrated. The through-wafer trench
methods differ from the through-wafer vias in that the electrical conduction is through the bulk
silicon instead of the conductor in the vias. In the first implementation, a carrier wafer is used
to provide mechanical support; in the second, mechanical support is provided by a silicon frame
structure embedded inside the isolation trenches. Both implementations reduce fabrication
complexity compared to the throughwafer via process, and result in low series resistance and small
parasitic capacitance. Two-dimensional CMUT arrays incorporating trench-isolated interconnects show
high output pressure (2.9 MPa), wide bandwidth (95%), small pulse-echo amplitude variation (sigma =
6.6% of the mean amplitude), and excellent element yield (100% in 16x16-element array). Volumetric
ultrasound imaging was demonstrated by flip-chip bonding one of the fabricated 2D arrays to a
custom-designed IC. An important added benefit of the trench-isolated interconnect is the
capability to realize flexible arrays. A flexible 2D CMUT array is demonstrated by filling the
trenches with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The results presented in this dissertation show that
through-wafer trench-isolation is a viable solution for providing electrical interconnects to CMUT
elements. These techniques are potentially useful for providing through-wafer interconnects to many
other types of MEMS sensors and actuators because of their post-process nature. The results also
show that 2D CMUT arrays fabricated using wafer-bonding deliver good performance.
