Glass wafer assembly
View Patent ↗A glass wafer assembly is disclosed. In one aspect, the glass wafer assembly comprises a first glass wafer and a second glass wafer that are bonded by a conductive sealing ring. The conductive sealing ring defines a substantially hermetically sealed cavity between the first glass wafer and the second glass wafer. In another aspect, the first glass wafer and the second glass wafer each comprise a plurality of conductive through glass vias (TGVs). At least one active device is disposed in the substantially hermetically sealed cavity and can be electrically coupled to a conductive TGV in the first glass wafer and a conductive TGV in the second glass wafer to enable flexible electrical routing through the glass wafer assembly without wire bonding and over molding. As a result, it is possible to reduce footprint and height while improving radio frequency (RF) performance of the glass wafer assembly.
1. A glass wafer assembly comprising:
a first glass wafer comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of first conductive through glass vias (TGVs) that extend from the upper surface to the lower surface of the first glass wafer;
a second glass wafer comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of second conductive TGVs that extend from the upper surface to the lower surface of the second glass wafer;
at least one active device provided on the upper surface of the second glass wafer; and
a sealing ring formed by a conductive sealing structure and disposed between the lower surface of the first glass wafer and the upper surface of the second glass wafer, the sealing ring encapsulating the at least one active device to define a substantially hermetically sealed cavity;
wherein:
the at least one active device is electrically coupled to a first conductive TGV among the plurality of second conductive TGVs comprised in the second glass wafer and a second conductive TGV of the plurality of first conductive TGVs is electrically coupled to a third conductive TGV of the plurality of second conductive TGVs,
at least one of the plurality of first conductive TGVs is electrically coupled to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) semiconductor that is mounted over the upper surface of the first glass wafer,
the at least one active device is electrically coupled to a first conductive TGV of the plurality of first conductive TGVs,
the at least one active device is electrically coupled to a first conductive stack, a second conductive stack, and a third conductive stack provided on the upper surface of the second glass wafer,
the first conductive stack is electrically coupled to the first conductive TGV of the plurality of second conductive TGVs,
the second conductive stack is electrically coupled to a second conductive TGV of the plurality of second conductive TGVs, and
the third conductive stack is electrically coupled to the first conductive TGV of the plurality of first conductive TGVs.
2. The glass wafer assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one active device is a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device.
3. The glass wafer assembly of claim 2 wherein the MEMS device comprises:
an anchor electrically coupled to the first conductive stack provided on the upper surface of the second glass wafer and electrically coupled to the first conductive TGV among the plurality of second conductive TGVs;
a cantilever comprising a first end and a second end wherein:
the first end is attached to the anchor and electrically coupled to the first conductive stack; and
the second end is configured to be electrically coupled to the second conductive stack in response to the third conductive stack receiving a control signal from the first conductive TGV among the plurality of first conductive TGVs.
4. A glass wafer assembly comprising:
a first glass wafer comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of first conductive through glass vias (TGVs) that extend from the upper surface to the lower surface of the first glass wafer;
a second glass wafer comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of second conductive TGVs that extend from the upper surface to the lower surface of the second glass wafer;
at least one active device provided on the upper surface of the second glass wafer; and
a sealing ring formed by a conductive sealing structure and disposed between the lower surface of the first glass wafer and the upper surface of the second glass wafer, the sealing ring encapsulating the at least one active device to define a substantially hermetically sealed cavity;
wherein:
the at least one active device is electrically coupled to a first conductive TGV among the plurality of second conductive TGVs comprised in the second glass wafer,
a second conductive TGV of the plurality of first conductive TGVs is electrically coupled to a third conductive TGV of the plurality of second conductive TGVs, and
the second conductive TGV of the plurality of first conductive TGVs is electrically coupled to the third conductive TGV of the plurality of second conductive TGVs by a respective conductive bonding structure formed from a conductive material that forms the conductive sealing structure.
5. The glass wafer assembly of claim 4 wherein the at least one active device is a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device.