A crystal device, a device, and an electronic apparatus

Abstract

This application provides a crystal device, a device, and an electronic device. The crystal device includes: a quartz wafer, a base encapsulating the quartz wafer, a top cover located on top of the base, and a getter located inside a cavity between the base and the top cover. The getter is used to absorb gas within the cavity. Because the getter can absorb gas within the cavity, a vacuum state (or near-vacuum state) can be maintained within the cavity, thereby effectively slowing down the aging rate of the crystal device and extending its service life. Moreover, the getter is activated by heating the crystal device. That is, in this application, when manufacturing the crystal device, it is not necessary to separately prepare a component for activating the getter, simplifying the crystal device manufacturing process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of electronics, and in particular to a crystal device, device, and electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] Crystal devices are devices made using the piezoelectric effect of a quartz crystal wafer. Crystal devices can include crystal resonators and crystal oscillators. A crystal resonator is a device that resonates when a voltage is applied to both sides of a quartz crystal wafer. A crystal resonator can include: a quartz crystal wafer, a base encapsulating the quartz crystal wafer, and a top cover located on top of the base. A crystal oscillator, in addition to being a crystal resonator, also includes an integrated circuit (IC) connected to the quartz crystal wafer. When a voltage is applied to both sides of the quartz crystal wafer, resonance occurs, and the frequency output by the IC after the quartz crystal wafer is connected to the IC is the output frequency of the crystal oscillator. Here, "crystal oscillator" is also simply referred to as "crystal oscillator".

[0003] Currently, crystal devices age relatively quickly. Therefore, a solution is urgently needed to address this problem. Utility Model Content

[0004] This application provides a crystal device, device, and electronic device that has a slower aging rate and a longer service life compared to conventional crystal devices.

[0005] Firstly, this application provides a crystal device comprising: a quartz wafer, a base encapsulating the quartz wafer, a top cover located on top of the base, and a getter located inside a cavity between the base and the top cover, the getter being used to absorb gas within the cavity. Because the getter can absorb gas within the cavity, a vacuum state (or near-vacuum state) can be maintained within the cavity, thereby effectively slowing down the aging rate of the crystal device and extending its service life. Furthermore, the getter is activated by heating the crystal device; that is, in this application, when fabricating the crystal device, it is not necessary to separately prepare a component for activating the getter, simplifying the fabrication process.

[0006] In one possible implementation, the getter is located on the inner base of the base. The getter located on the inner base can absorb gas within the cavity, thereby maintaining a vacuum (or near-vacuum) state within the cavity, effectively slowing down the aging rate of the crystal device and extending its service life.

[0007] In one possible implementation, the getter is located inside the top cover. The getter located inside the top cover can absorb gas within the cavity, thereby maintaining a vacuum (or near-vacuum) state within the cavity, effectively slowing down the aging rate of the crystal device and extending its service life.

[0008] In one possible implementation, considering that the activation temperature of non-evaporable materials does not need to be particularly high, and that the metal atoms inside the non-evaporable material will not be evaporated when it is activated, the non-evaporable material itself will not cause contamination to the aforementioned crystal device. Therefore, the aforementioned getter can be a non-evaporable material.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the non-evaporable material includes at least one of zirconium vanadium iron, zirconium aluminum alloy, and titanium-based alloy, thereby absorbing the gas in the cavity and enabling the cavity to maintain a vacuum state (or near-vacuum state), thereby effectively slowing down the aging rate of the crystal device and extending the service life of the crystal device.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the getter can be in the form of a thin film. In this scenario, considering that sputtering and electron beam evaporation can produce relatively stable thin films, in one example, the getter can be processed into the cavity interior by sputtering or electron beam evaporation. For example, the getter can be processed onto the inner base of the substrate by sputtering or electron beam evaporation, or, as another example, the getter can be processed onto the inner side of the top cover by sputtering or electron beam evaporation.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the quartz wafer is fixed to the base with silver paste, and the top cover and the base are connected by welding. Accordingly, the gas in the cavity includes at least one of the gas generated by the volatilization of the silver paste and the gas generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the gas generated by the volatilization of the silver paste includes at least one of CO2 and H2O, and the gas generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base includes at least one of H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2. Therefore, the gases to be adsorbed within the cavity include at least one of H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2. The aforementioned zirconium vanadium iron, zirconium aluminum alloy, and titanium-based alloy can all adsorb H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2. Therefore, when the non-evaporable material used in the getter includes at least one of zirconium vanadium iron, zirconium aluminum alloy, and titanium-based alloy, the getter can adsorb the gases such as H2, CO, CO2, H2O, or N2 that need to be adsorbed within the cavity, thereby maintaining a vacuum state within the cavity.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the crystal device includes a crystal oscillator or a crystal resonator. The crystal oscillator or crystal resonator provided in this solution has a slow aging rate, long service life, and simple fabrication process.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the crystal oscillator is a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO). The TCXO provided in this solution has a slow aging rate, long service life, and simple fabrication process.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the crystal oscillator is an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO). The OCXO provided in this solution has a slow aging rate, long service life, and simple fabrication process.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the crystal oscillator is a voltage-controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO). The VCXO provided in this solution has a slow aging rate, long service life, and simple fabrication process.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the crystal oscillator is a simple packaged crystal oscillator (SPXO). The SPXO provided in this solution has a slow aging rate, long service life, and simple fabrication process.

[0018] Secondly, this application provides a device comprising the crystal device described in any one of the first aspects above. For example, this application provides a chip comprising the crystal device described in any one of the first aspects above.

[0019] Thirdly, this application provides an electronic device, which includes the crystal device described in any one of the first aspects above.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the electronic device is a network device or a terminal device. Attached Figure Description

[0021] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a crystal resonator is shown. Figure 2a This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a crystal resonator provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 2b This is a schematic diagram of another crystal resonator provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 2c This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 2d This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 2e This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 2f A schematic diagram of another temperature-compensated crystal oscillator provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 2g This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a temperature-controlled crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 2h This is a schematic diagram of another type of isothermal crystal oscillator provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0023] This application provides a crystal device, device, and electronic device that has a slower aging rate and a longer service life compared to conventional crystal devices.

[0024] To facilitate understanding, we will first explain the structure of traditional crystal devices.

[0025] See Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a crystal resonator is shown.

[0026] Figure 1 The crystal resonator shown includes: a quartz crystal wafer, a base for encapsulating the quartz crystal wafer, and a top cover located on top of the base. The base is typically made of ceramic, and the top cover is typically made of metal.

[0027] The packaging process of a crystal resonator is as follows: First, the quartz crystal is fixed inside the base using silver paste; specifically, the quartz crystal is fixed to the metal electrodes of the base using silver paste. Then, the top cover is soldered to the base using parallel soldering or gold-soldering methods. The packaging process of the crystal resonator means that a vacuum cannot be maintained within the cavity between the base and the top cover. Specifically: The quartz crystal is bonded to the metal electrode of the base with silver paste. The organic solvents in the silver paste (such as terpineol, glycol ether, etc.) will gradually evaporate during the use of the crystal resonator. Other components in the silver paste, such as resin, will also produce trace amounts of volatile gases (such as at least one of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O)) under high temperature conditions.

[0028] The process of welding the base to the top cover releases gases (such as at least one of hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), CO2, H2O, and nitrogen (N2).

[0029] During long-term use, residual gas inside the crystal resonator can be adsorbed onto the surface of the quartz crystal and accelerate the corrosion of the quartz crystal electrodes, resulting in a faster aging rate and a shorter service life for the resonator.

[0030] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a crystal device that can solve the above-mentioned problems. The crystal device provided in the embodiments of this application will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0031] The crystal device provided in this application includes: a quartz wafer, a base for encapsulating the quartz wafer, a top cover located on top of the base, and a getter located inside a cavity between the base and the top cover. The getter is used to absorb gas within the cavity, thus maintaining a vacuum (or near-vacuum) state within the cavity, effectively slowing down the aging rate of the crystal device and extending its service life. Furthermore, in this application, the getter is activated by heating the crystal device. That is, in this application, there is no need to separately prepare a component for activating the getter during the fabrication of the crystal device, simplifying the fabrication process. Moreover, the fabrication process itself includes heating the crystal device for pre-aging, ensuring it enters a stable operating state after being put into use. In this application, there is no need to separately heat the crystal device to activate the getter; instead, the getter activation can be achieved simultaneously with the pre-aging of the crystal device.

[0032] In one example, the crystal device may be a crystal resonator, which can serve as a component in the fabrication of a crystal oscillator. The crystal resonator provided by this solution has a slower aging rate and a longer lifespan compared to conventional crystal resonators. In another example, the crystal device may be a crystal oscillator, in which case the crystal device also includes other components, such as at least an integrated circuit (IC). The crystal oscillators in this application include, but are not limited to, temperature-compensated crystal oscillators, or temperature-controlled crystal oscillators, or voltage-controlled crystal oscillators, or simply packaged crystal oscillators.

[0033] In this application, the getter can be located at any position within the cavity where it can be placed. As a specific example, considering that the inner base of the base and the inner side of the top cover are relatively flat, the getter can be located on the inner base of the base or the inner side of the top cover. Of course, the getter can also be placed on both the inner base of the base and the inner side of the top cover.

[0034] In one example, the getter can be in the form of a thin film. In this scenario, considering that sputtering and electron beam evaporation can produce relatively stable thin films, in one example, the getter can be processed into the cavity by sputtering or electron beam evaporation. For example, the getter can be processed onto the inner base of the base by sputtering or electron beam evaporation, or onto the inner side of the top cover by sputtering or electron beam evaporation.

[0035] In this application, a getter is used to absorb the gas within the cavity, thereby maintaining a vacuum state within the cavity as much as possible. The getter can be a diffusible material or a non-diffusible material. In one example, considering that the activation temperature of a non-diffusible material does not need to be particularly high, and that the metal atoms inside the non-diffusible material will not be diffused when activated, thus preventing contamination of the aforementioned crystal device, a non-diffusible material is preferably used as the getter in this application.

[0036] This application does not specifically limit the non-evaporable material. The specific evaporable material used in the getter can be determined according to the gas that needs to be adsorbed in the cavity, as long as the non-evaporable material can adsorb the gas that needs to be adsorbed in the cavity.

[0037] As described above, the quartz wafer is fixed to the base with silver paste, and the top cover and the base are connected by welding. The gas inside the cavity includes the gas generated by the volatilization of the silver paste, and / or the gas generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base. The gas generated by the volatilization of the silver paste includes at least one of CO2 and H2O, and the gas generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base includes at least one of H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2. Therefore, the gas to be adsorbed inside the cavity includes at least one of H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2.

[0038] Considering that non-evaporable materials such as zirconium vanadium iron, zirconium aluminum alloy, and titanium-based alloys can all adsorb H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2, in one example, the non-evaporable material used in the getter may include at least one of zirconium vanadium iron, zirconium aluminum alloy, and titanium-based alloy. This allows the getter to adsorb gases such as H2, CO, CO2, H2O, or N2 that need to be adsorbed within the cavity, thereby maintaining a vacuum state within the cavity.

[0039] Next, we will introduce several schematic diagrams of the crystal devices provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0040] See Figure 2a The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a crystal resonator provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0041] like Figure 2a As shown, the crystal resonator includes: a quartz crystal wafer 1, a base 2 for encapsulating the quartz crystal wafer, a top cover 3 located on top of the base, and a getter 4 located on the inner base of the base.

[0042] See Figure 2bThe figure is a schematic diagram of another crystal resonator provided in the embodiment of this application.

[0043] like Figure 2b As shown, the crystal resonator includes: a quartz wafer 1, a base 2 for encapsulating the quartz wafer, a top cover 3 located on top of the base, and a getter 4 located inside the top cover.

[0044] See Figure 2c The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 2c The crystal oscillator shown is in Figure 2a IC 5 is added to the crystal resonator shown, and IC 5 and getter 4 are both located in the same cavity, and IC 5 is connected to base 2.

[0045] See Figure 2d The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 2d The crystal oscillator shown is Figure 2c The difference between the crystal oscillators shown is that: Figure 2d In the middle, the getter 4 is located on the inside of the top cover, while Figure 2c The getter 4 is located on the inner base of the base.

[0046] Figure 2c and Figure 2d The crystal oscillator shown can be a voltage-controlled crystal oscillator or a simply packaged crystal oscillator.

[0047] See Figure 2e The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 2c The temperature-compensated crystal oscillator shown is in Figure 2a IC 6 is added to the crystal resonator shown, and IC 6 is located on the outer base of the base.

[0048] See Figure 2f The figure is a schematic diagram of another temperature-compensated crystal oscillator provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 2f The temperature-compensated crystal oscillator shown is Figure 2e The difference between the temperature-compensated crystal oscillators shown is that: Figure 2f In the middle, the getter 4 is located on the inside of the top cover, while Figure 2e The getter 4 is located on the inner base of the base.

[0049] See Figure 2g The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a temperature-controlled crystal oscillator provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 2g The temperature-controlled crystal oscillator shown is in Figure 2aThe crystal resonator shown is supplemented with a printed circuit board (PCB) 7, ICs 8 and 9 deployed on the PCB 7, a base 10, and a package housing 11. The PCB 7 is connected to the outer base of the base 2. The base 10 and the package housing 11 together encapsulate the crystal resonator, PCB 7, ICs 8 and 9. Additionally, although... Figure 2g The paper shows two ICs, IC 8 and IC 9. However, in practice, the number of ICs deployed on PCB 7 is not limited to two. The number of ICs deployed on PCB 7 can also be one or more than two. This application does not limit this.

[0050] See Figure 2h The figure is a schematic diagram of another type of isothermal crystal oscillator provided in the embodiments of this application. Figure 2h The shown isothermal crystal oscillator and Figure 2g The difference between the shown temperature-controlled crystal oscillators is that, in Figure 2h In the middle, the getter 4 is located on the inside of the top cover, while Figure 2g The getter 4 is located on the inner base of the base.

[0051] This application also provides a device, which may be, for example, a chip. This device includes the crystal device provided in the above embodiments, such as the crystal resonator provided in the above embodiments, or the crystal oscillator provided in the above embodiments. The chip includes, but is not limited to, chips on network devices or terminal devices.

[0052] This application also provides an electronic device, which includes the crystal device provided in the above embodiments. This electronic device includes, but is not limited to, a network device or a terminal device.

[0053] Among them, the network devices mentioned in the embodiments of this application include, but are not limited to, routers, switches, transmission devices or base stations.

[0054] The terminal devices mentioned in the embodiments of this application include, but are not limited to, mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones, tablets, or wearable smart devices, as well as terminal devices such as personal computers, which will not be listed here.

[0055] The transmission devices mentioned in the embodiments of this application include, but are not limited to, packet transport network (PTN) devices or optical transport network (OTN) devices.

[0056] The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc. (if present) in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or sequence. It should be understood that such data used can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, e.g., including a series of products or devices is not necessarily limited to those components explicitly listed, but may include other components not explicitly listed or inherent to those products or devices.

[0057] The above specific embodiments further illustrate the purpose, technical solution and beneficial effects of this application. It should be understood that the above are only specific embodiments of this application.

[0058] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and are not intended to limit it. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A crystalline device, characterized by, The crystal device includes: The crystal device comprises a quartz crystal wafer, a base for encapsulating the quartz crystal wafer, a top cover on top of the base, and a getter located inside a cavity between the base and the top cover, the getter being used to absorb gas inside the cavity, the getter being activated by heating the crystal device.

2. The crystalline device of claim 1, wherein, The getter is located on the inner base of the base.

3. The crystalline device of claim 1, wherein, The getter is located inside the top cover.

4. The crystalline device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The getter is a non-evaporable material.

5. The crystal device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The non-evaporative material includes at least one of the following: Zirconium-vanadium-iron alloy, zirconium-aluminum alloy, and titanium-based alloy.

6. The crystal device according to any one of claims 1-3 or 5, characterized in that, The getter is processed into the cavity by sputtering coating.

7. The crystal device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The getter is processed into the cavity by sputtering coating.

8. The crystal device according to any one of claims 1-3 or 5, characterized in that, The getter is processed into the cavity by electron beam evaporation.

9. The crystal device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The getter is processed into the cavity by electron beam evaporation.

10. The crystal device according to any one of claims 1-3, or 5, 7, or 9, characterized in that, The quartz wafer is fixed to the base with silver paste, the top cover and the base are connected by welding, and the gas inside the cavity includes at least one of the following: The gases generated by the volatilization of the silver paste, and the gases generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base.

11. The crystal device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The quartz wafer is fixed to the base with silver paste, the top cover and the base are connected by welding, and the gas inside the cavity includes at least one of the following: The gases generated by the volatilization of the silver paste, and the gases generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base.

12. The crystal device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The quartz wafer is fixed to the base with silver paste, the top cover and the base are connected by welding, and the gas inside the cavity includes at least one of the following: The gases generated by the volatilization of the silver paste, and the gases generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base.

13. The crystal device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The quartz wafer is fixed to the base with silver paste, the top cover and the base are connected by welding, and the gas inside the cavity includes at least one of the following: The gases generated by the volatilization of the silver paste, and the gases generated during the welding process of the top cover and the base.

14. The crystal device according to any one of claims 1-3, or 5, 7, 9, or any one of claims 11-13, characterized in that, The gas within the cavity includes at least one of the following: H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2.

15. The crystal device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The gas within the cavity includes at least one of the following: H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2.

16. The crystal device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The gas within the cavity includes at least one of the following: H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2.

17. The crystal device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The gas within the cavity includes at least one of the following: H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2.

18. The crystal device according to claim 10, characterized in that, The gas within the cavity includes at least one of the following: H2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2.

19. The crystal device according to any one of claims 1-3, or 5, 7, 9, or any one of claims 11-13, or any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, The crystal device includes: Crystal oscillator, or crystal resonator.

20. The crystal device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The crystal device includes: Crystal oscillator, or crystal resonator.

21. The crystal device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The crystal device includes: Crystal oscillator, or crystal resonator.

22. The crystal device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The crystal device includes: Crystal oscillator, or crystal resonator.

23. The crystal device according to claim 10, characterized in that, The crystal device includes: Crystal oscillator, or crystal resonator.

24. The crystal device according to claim 14, characterized in that, The crystal device includes: Crystal oscillator, or crystal resonator.

25. The crystal device according to claim 19, characterized in that, The crystal oscillator is: Temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO), or oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO), or voltage-controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO), or simple packaged crystal oscillator (SPXO).

26. The crystal device according to any one of claims 20-24, characterized in that, The crystal oscillator is: Temperature-compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO), or oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO), or voltage-controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO), or simple packaged crystal oscillator (SPXO).

27. A device, characterized in that, The device includes the crystal device as described in any one of claims 1-26.

28. An electronic device, characterized in that, The electronic device includes a crystal device as described in any one of claims 1-26.

29. The electronic device according to claim 28, characterized in that, The electronic device is a network device or a terminal device.

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