Single-Side Via Hole for Electrode Access in Piezoelectric Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical devices that require electrodes on both top and bottom surfaces face limitations due to the need to access both sides, leading to reduced effectiveness and impracticality, especially in applications where one surface is bonded to an object, causing mechanical constraints and reduced sensitivity.
Innovation Solution
The creation of electrical devices with via holes that provide electrode pair access from a single side, featuring a conductive sidewall in electrical contact with a pad electrode on the top surface, allowing connection to a bottom electrode through a via hole, thereby avoiding radial constriction and increasing the active device area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If electrodes are applied to both top and bottom surfaces, then electrical functionality is achieved, but access to both surfaces is limited and device effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vertical via hole dimension through the device layer, allowing electrical connection to the bottom electrode from the top surface. This third-dimensional approach enables single-sided access while maintaining dual-electrode functionality, resolving the contradiction between needing both electrodes and needing surface accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The via hole filled with conductive material acts as an intermediary pathway, connecting the top electrode region to the bottom electrode through the device layer. This intermediary structure enables electrical access to the bottom electrode without requiring direct surface access, solving the accessibility problem.
2Strength
If one surface is bonded to an object, then mechanical bonding is achieved, but access to that surface is blocked and electrode accessibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By creating vertical via holes through the bonded surface, the patent enables electrical access in the vertical dimension while the bonded surface remains intact in the horizontal plane. This allows bonding strength to be maintained while electrode accessibility is preserved through the via hole pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the electrical connection path into separate components: top electrode, via hole conductive path, and bottom electrode. This segmentation allows the bonded surface to remain continuous for mechanical strength while electrical access is provided through discrete via hole segments.
3Ease of operation
If via holes are created for single-sided access, then electrode accessibility is improved, but device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The via holes serve multiple functions: providing electrical connection, enabling mechanical anchoring, and defining active device boundaries. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate structures, offsetting the added complexity with functional consolidation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the electrical connection function with the structural via hole feature. The conductive material filling the via hole simultaneously provides electrical conductivity and structural integrity, combining multiple functions into a single integrated feature that reduces overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices and methods described herein provide electrode pair access from a single side of a device by using one or more via holes through the device. The via hole can pass through or near the center of the device. By creating a conductive path through the via hole of the device, devices and methods of the present disclosure advantageously provide access to a pair of electrodes, each of which contacts a different side of a device layer, on a single side of the device while enabling a greater active device area than is possible using conventional techniques. In addition, the central location of the via hole provides favorable mechanical properties by avoiding radial constriction of the device layers in applications such as piezoelectric devices.