Stress analysis of shielding electrode in chip with pressure sensor embedded in accelerometer

Abstract

Purpose Analysis of the thermal effects during the packaging process or in the actual operating environment is necessary to develop small monolithic integrated sensing chips with heterogeneous integration. The use of multiple layers and various materials in monolithic integrated sensing chips addresses the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch issue. The purpose of this study is to focus on the residual stress analysis of the shielding electrode, which is a metal film that prevents pull-in of proof-mass during anodic bonding in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) chips with pressure sensors embedded in an accelerometer. Design/methodology/approach The finite element model of the chip was built by the commercial software ANSYS, and the residual stress was evaluated during the die attachment process for the shielding electrode. Various shielding electrode materials and a proposed design with a keep-out zone to reduce the residual stress are discussed, with a focus on the relationship between the geometric parameters of the chip and the residual stress for copper shielding electrodes of different thicknesses. Findings The results of the finite element analysis showed that the use of polysilicon as a shielding electrode in the proposed design generated the lowest residual stress because of its low CTE. The maximum stresses in both of in-plane and out-of-plane directions in the finite element model were reduced by keep-out zone design for the proposed design of the copper shielding electrode, and had 11 times reduction in out-of-plane direction especially, according to the nonlinear analysis as the stress concentration point in the shielding electrode moved. Moreover, the design with a thinner shielding electrode, thinner glass substrate and higher CTE of the glass substrate also lowered the maximum von Mises stress. On the other hand, the stress level during the operating temperature, without considering residual stress, overestimated up to five times in the proposed design. Originality/value In this study, valuable suggestions are proposed for the design of chips with pressure sensors embedded in accelerometers.