Technology: Associated Technologies

Exterior package and electronics for ultra-high resolution pressure sensor

ISSYS' products derive their primary sustainable competitive advantage from the use of silicon and silicon micromachining technologies. To convert this technology into actual products requires associated technologies and skill sets. ISSYS has substantial expertise in the following technologies:

• Design & Simulation
• Highly Hermetic Lead Transfers
• High Vacuum Cavity Creation
• Corrosion Resistance
• Readout Electronics
• System Integration & Packaging
• Testing & Characterization
  

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Design & Simulation:

ISSYS' team includes one of the world's foremost experts in simulation. The company has developed a design infrastructure and library of simulation models that are used to evaluate designs before spending the time to fabricate them.

ISSYS has developed technology that allows wafer-level encapsulation of the vacuum cavity in its pressure sensors and permits the creation of multiple lead transfers simultaneously, an essential step for mass production of MEMS pressure sensors.

ISSYS unique wafer-level vacuum packaging moves vacuum sealing the internal sensor environment from an expensive serial step to a cost-effective wafer-level batch process.

Corrosion Resistance:

Corrosion resistance is essential for ISSYS' products because ISSYS' sensors typically have direct media contact in corrosive environments such as semiconductor fabrication facilities, the human body, and other industrial environments.

ISSYS has developed technology to improve the corrosion resistance of its devices, including:

• Thin coatings (< 5000 A) with the infrastructure to characterize them
• Accelerated life testing in corrosive gaseous and liquid environments
• Real-time testing in corrosive liquid environments

ISSYS' team includes Electronics Engineers who develop technologies for sensor measurement and design electronic circuits and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Developing electronics and packaging solutions

Traditionally, for many micromachined products, packaging has been the limiting factor in terms of cost, reliability, performance, functionality, and media compatibility. ISSYS' approach is to build packaging into device design from the beginning and the company has been consistently developing packaging solutions. An example of developed package is the ultra-high vacuum pressure sensor which is encased in a metal housing with associated electronics that is structured to fit customers' existing equipment while providing much higher performance than existing sensors offer, low operating power, and compatibility with protective coatings.

It is well-known in MEMS that the cost of testing and characterization of many MEMS products can be much higher than that of their fabrication. This is partly due to the fact that MEMS device fabrication is a batch process, yielding thousands of sensors per run, while testing and characterization steps, in some cases, are slow serial processes. ISSYS is aggressively addressing these challenges in its design process.

In addition, because ISSYS is developing state-of-the-art sensors, it is pushing the envelope in terms of what can be measured using existing tools. Therefore, most testing equipment for ISSYS' sensors must be custom-designed and built. ISSYS' team has the expertise to custom-design the tools and performs the required testing and characterization to ensure high-quality products.