Diamond Substrate Features for Precise Via Formation and Heat Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Generating features in substrates comprising hard and chemically inert materials, such as those with high thermal conductivity, is challenging due to their resistance to standard processing methods like etching and drilling, which can lead to damage or performance degradation of nearby components.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the growth of a diamond layer with substrate features, such as vias or trenches, using selective area growth techniques, where the diamond layer has varying crystal grain sizes and densities near the feature, allowing for precise feature creation without damaging adjacent components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If standard processing methods (etching and drilling) are used to generate features in high-thermal conductivity substrates, then manufacturing time is reduced, but the substrates are damaged or device performance degrades due to the hardness and chemical inertness of the materials
Solution Approach 1:
A sacrificial layer is introduced as an intermediary material between the semiconductor structure and the high-thermal conductivity substrate. This sacrificial layer enables feature formation through standard processing methods without directly etching or drilling the hard, chemically inert substrate, thereby avoiding damage to the substrate and nearby components while still allowing feature creation.
Solution Approach 2:
The sacrificial layer is deposited beforehand on the substrate surface before the semiconductor structure is formed. This preliminary action creates a preparatory structure that facilitates subsequent feature formation processes, allowing standard etching and drilling methods to be used on the sacrificial layer rather than directly on the substrate.
2Device complexity
If standard processing methods are used to generate features in hard and chemically inert materials, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but heat damage occurs to components proximate to features
Solution Approach 1:
The sacrificial layer serves as a thermal buffer between the feature formation process and the substrate components. When etching or drilling features, heat is generated but is absorbed by the sacrificial layer rather than being directly transferred to nearby components, preventing thermal damage while maintaining process simplicity.
3Temperature
If features are generated in substrates with high thermal conductivity materials, then thermal efficiency is improved, but manufacturing precision is reduced due to difficulty in creating precise features
Solution Approach 1:
The sacrificial layer provides a softer, more manufacturable surface for creating precise features using standard lithography, etching, and drilling techniques. Once features are precisely formed in the sacrificial layer, the sacrificial material is removed, leaving clean, precise features in the substrate without requiring direct precision work on the hard substrate itself.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables the efficient generation of features in high-thermal conductivity substrates with improved etch selectivity and reduced manufacturing time, maintaining component integrity and enhancing thermal efficiency in wide-bandgap semiconductor devices.
Implementation Method 1
A method involving the growth of a diamond layer with substrate features, such as vias or trenches, using selective area growth techniques
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of features in thermally conductive substrates and methods of forming the same are described. A substrate may comprise a material having an average value of thermal conductivity equal to or greater than about 1,000 W/mK. The substrate may comprise diamond. The substrate may comprise a wide-bandgap semiconductor material. A feature may comprise an interconnect, such as a via hole. A feature may comprise a singulation feature, such as a die street. The substrate may comprise a plurality of crystals each having an average crystal grain diameter from about 10 nanometers to about 100 nanometers. The plurality of crystals may be disposed a distance of less than or equal to about 100 micrometers from a surface of the feature. The substrate may comprise a keyhole or void. The keyhole may be disposed a distance of less than or equal to about 100 micrometers from a surface of the feature.