MEMS packaging: Fluxless soldering and reliability assessment

All the optical MEMS devices are gaining popularity in the applications like telecom, medical, avionics and military. Majority of devices carry a MEMS chip, which is fabricated by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of silicon on insulator (SOI). The chip carries micro machined structures like optical mirrors, actuators and sensors. All these structures are prone to failures due to stiction. For some applications these devices are suppose to have long shelf of 25-30 years. Hence it is essential to put this delicate device into strong package capable of properly protecting these devices from moisture and deleterious effects from the external environment. The package housing should be hermetic and no organic substance should be involved while packaging.; This thesis presents process development and reliability assessment of the fluxless packaging of the MEMS devices. This packaging consists of metallized Kovar package with side wall of same material and circular holes for the optical fiber interconnect between the microstructures on the chip and the macro-environment. The back of the MEMS chip and the soldering part of the optical fiber is metallized. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...