MEMS vacuum packaging technology and applications

Vacuum packaging is essential for various kinds of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices for enhancing the performance and reliability. This paper presents our works on research on vacuum packaging of MEMS devices. A hermetical sealing technique has been developed, which involves the processes of anodic bonding for silicon and glass wafers with imperfect interface, adhesive bonding, glass frit bonding and silicon-to-gold eutectic bonding. Vacuum maintenance has been achieved by applying evaporable and nonevaporable getter films in the packaging process. A specific helium leak detector with bombing system is introduced, which can monitor the deformation of micro diaphragms and conduct leak detection for MEMS structures.