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PublicationSensor Systems for Extremely Harsh Environments( 2023-10-31)Sensors are key elements for capturing environmental properties and are today indispensable in the industry for monitoring and control of industrial processes. Many applications are demanding for highly integrated intelligent sensors to meet the requirements on safety, clean and energy efficient operation or to gain process information in the context of industry 4.0. While in many everyday objects highly integrated sensor systems are already state of the art, the situation in an industrial environment is clearly different. Frequently the use of sensor systems is impossible, due to the fact that the extreme ambient conditions of industrial processes like high operating temperatures or strong mechanical loads do not allow a reliable operation of sensitive electronic components. Eight Fraunhofer Institutes have bundled their competencies and have run the Fraunhofer Lighthouse Project ‘eHarsh’ to overcome this situation. The project goal was to realize sensor systems for extremely harsh environments, whereby sensor systems are not only pure sensor elements, rather containing one or multiple sensor elements and integrated readout electronics. Various technologies which are necessary for the realization of such sensor systems have been identified, developed and finally bundled in a technology platform. These technologies are e. g. MEMS and ceramic based sensors, SOI-CMOS based integrated electronics, board assembly and laser based joining technologies. All these developments have been accompanied by comprehensive tests, material characterization and reliability simulations. Based on the platform a pressure sensor for turbine applications has been realized to prove the performance of the eHarsh technology platform.
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PublicationWafer Level Capping Technology for Vacuum Packaging of Microbolometers( 2023-08-03)
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PublicationA novel hermetic encapsulation approach for the protection of electronics in harsh environments( 2022-11-11)Technologies and building blocks for the realization of reliable electronic systems for the use in harsh environments are attracting increasing intention. Harsh environments are for instance high temperature, pressure, mechanical stress and/or submerge into corrosive liquids, or the combination thereof. In the first place electronic components like integrated circuits or passive components which constitute the electronic system need to be operational under harsh conditions. On system level also the interconnections and package materials need to withstand the loading conditions. Printed circuit board embedding technology is a highly promising approach to realize this kind of electronic systems. Embedded semiconductors and passive components are mechanically protected from the environmental stresses by the epoxy/glass fibre compound into which they are encapsulated. Furthermore, novel types of high temperature laminate materials are commercially available since a few years. In an electroless plating process a fully hermetic metallic encapsulation can be added to the modules. This encapsulation acts as a protective barrier when they are immersed into corrosive liquids or gases. The external electrical connections out of the package are realized by ceramics with metallic feed throughs. They are assembled onto the modules (prior to the metallic encapsulation) using sinter-lamination-technology, i.e. the simultaneous build-up lamination and a sintering process. Two application demonstrators were realized in order to show the general viability of the encapsulation process. All used materials are commercially available. Industrial process equipment was used throughout the manufacturing. Subsequent reliability tests provide evidence for the general robustness and functionality of the modules under harsh environmental conditions. This work was part of the Fraunhofer lighthouse project “eHarsh” which was funded by the Fraunhofer Society.
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PublicationSensor Systems for Extremely Harsh Environments( 2022-10-01)Sensors are key elements for capturing environmental properties and are today indispensable in the industry for monitoring and control of industrial processes. Many applications are demanding for highly integrated intelligent sensors to meet the requirements on safety, clean, and energy-efficient operation, or to gain process information in the context of industry 4.0. While in many everyday objects highly integrated sensor systems are already state of the art, the situation in an industrial environment is clearly different. Frequently, the use of sensor systems is impossible due to the fact that the extreme ambient conditions of industrial processes like high operating temperatures or strong mechanical loads do not allow a reliable operation of sensitive electronic components. Eight Fraunhofer Institutes have bundled their competencies and have run the Fraunhofer Lighthouse Project “eHarsh” to overcome this situation. The project goal was to realize sensor systems for extremely harsh environments, whereby sensor systems are more than pure sensors, rather these are containing one or multiple sensing elements and integrated readout electronics. Various technologies, which are necessary for the realization of such sensor systems, have been identified, developed, and finally bundled in a technology platform. These technologies are, e.g., MEMS and ceramic-based sensors, SOI-CMOS-based integrated electronics, board assembly and laser-based joining technologies. All these developments have been accompanied by comprehensive tests, material characterization, and reliability simulations. Based on the platform, a pressure sensor for turbine applications has been realized to prove the performance of the eHarsh technology platform.
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PublicationSensor Systems for Extremely Harsh Environments( 2022)Sensors are key elements for the detection of environmental properties and are indispensable in industrial applications for process monitoring and intelligent control of processes. While highly integrated sensor systems are already state -of-theart in many everyday areas, the situation in an industrial environment is significantly different. The use of sensor systems is often not possible because the extreme environmental conditions of industrial processes such as high operating temperatures or strong mechanical loads do not allow the reliable operation of sensitive electronic components. As part of the Fraunhofer Lighthouse project eHarsh, eight institutes have bundled their competencies and created a technology platform as a basis for the development of sensor systems for extremely harsh environments.
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PublicationSmart sensor systems for extremely harsh environments( 2021)Sensors systems are key elements for capturing environmental properties and are increasingly important in industry 4.0 for the intelligent control of processes. However, under harsh operating conditions like high temperatures, high mechanic load or aggressive environments, standard electronics cannot be used. Eight Fraunhofer institutes have therefore bundled their competencies in sensors, microelectronics, assembly, board design, laser applications and reliability analysis to establish a technology platform for sensor systems working under extreme conditions.
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PublicationA high temperature SOI-CMOS chipset focusing sensor electronics for operating temperatures up to 300 °C( 2021)Sensors are key elements for capturing environmental properties and are increasingly important in the industry for the intelligent control of industrial processes. While in many everyday objects highly integrated sensor systems are already state of the art, the situation in an industrial environment is clearly different. Frequently the use of sensor systems is impossible, because the extreme ambient conditions of industrial processes like high operating temperatures or strong mechanical load do not allow a reliable operation of sensitive electronic components. Fraunhofer is running the Lighthouse Project 'eHarsh' to overcome this hurdle. In the course of the project an integrated sensor readout electronic has been realized based on a set of three chips. A dedicated sensor frontend provides the analog sensor interface for resistive sensors typically arranged in a Wheatstone configuration. Furthermore, the chipset includes a 32-bit microcontroller for signal conditioning and sensor control. Finally, it comprises an interface chip including a bus transceiver and voltage regulators. The chipset has been realized in a high temperature 0.35 micron SOI-CMOS technology focusing operating temperatures up to 300 °C. The chipset is assembled on a multilayer ceramic LTCC-board using flip chip technology. The ceramic board consists of 4 layers with a total thickness of approx. 0.9 mm. The internal wiring is based on silver paste while external contacts were alternatively manufactured in silver (sintering/soldering) or in gold-alloys (wire bonding). As interconnection technology, silver sintering has been applied. It has already been shown that a significant increase in lifetime can be reached by using silver sintering for die attach applications. Using silver sintering for flip chip technology is a new and challenging approach. By adjusting the process parameter geared to the chipset design and the design of the ceramic board high quality flip chip interconnects can be generated.
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PublicationScalable hybrid microelectronic-microfluidic integration of highly sensitive biosensors( 2020)Point of Care devices for medical applications are becoming more and more widespread. The advantage of having test results after a very short period and without any laboratory is beneficial for doctors in developing countries far away from laboratory infrastructure to clinical devices disburdening in-house laboratories, for example, in case of an outbreak of an epidemic. Especially infectious diseases are one of the world's leading cause of morbidity and death [1]. Viral respiratory infections are a major cause of burden of disease in children. Annual human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) related death are around 253,000, mainly in developing countries. It accounts for up to 6.7 % of mortality of children younger than 1 year. Therefore, RSV is the second most important global cause of death during infancy. Furthermore, RSV infection has been linked to an increased risk in the development of childhood wheezing and asthma in later life [2, 3]. Fast and cheap diagnostic, independent from laboratory infrastructure, will have a high impact on the healthcare system. Highly sensitive microelectronic biosensors have a superior sensitivity and accuracy compared to paper stripes. The higher miniaturization potential and production stability accompanied by a better readout simplicity makes them a cheaper alternative to optical systems. In this paper a hybrid microelectronic-microfluidic packaging strategy for a disposable, two different microelectronic biosensor platforms will be presented, targeting the diagnostic of RSV. The multiplexed detection of both, host and pathogen biomarkers in the same sample will lead to a rapid, cheap and accurate diagnosis and prognosis, providing almost real-time results. Platform 1, the BioGrFET sensor, uses a graphene field effect transistor (GrFET). The liquid sample containing the biomarkers flows over the sensor's surface with probe molecules, where the target molecules (specific biomarkers) of the fluid can be immobilized. The charge of the biomarker on the surface changes the charge carrier density inside the graphene which can be detected by measuring the graphene field effect transport characteristic. Platform 2, the BioMEMS sensor, is a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) having a very thin membrane carrying the active sensor structure, offering additional challenges to device packaging. The liquid sample, containing the biomarkers, flows over the membrane's surface with detection molecules, where the specific biomarkers of the fluid can be immobilized. With the specific biomarkers on the membrane's surface changes the mass and therefore the resonance frequency of the membrane which can be read out. A specific packaging challenge for both sensors is to develop packaging technology flows that allow adding the sensor functionalization during packaging and leaves this functionalization intact until the packaging processes are finalized, which implies a process selection with reduced thermal and mechanical load on the delicate functionalized sensors. This challenge has been mastered for both sensors - yielding two dedicated packaging process flows that were used to manufacture functional sensor packages.
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PublicationScalable hybrid microelectronic-microfluidic integration of highly sensitive biosensors( 2018)Point of Care devices for medical applications are becoming more and more widespread. The advantage of having test results after a very short period and without any laboratory creates is beneficial for doctors in developing countries far away from laboratory infrastructure to clinical devices disburdening in-house laboratories for example in case of an outbreak of an epidemic. Especially infectious diseases are one of the world's leading cause of morbidity and death [1]. Viral respiratory infections are a major cause of burden of disease in children. Annual human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) related death are around 253.000, mainly in developing countries. It accounts for up to 6.7 % of mortality of children younger than 1 year. Therefore, RSV is the second most important global cause of death during infancy. Furthermore, RSV infection has been linked to an increased risk in the development of childhood wheezing and asthma in later life [2, 3]. Fast and cheap diagnostic, independent from laboratory infrastructure, will have a high impact on the healthcare system. Highly sensitive microelectronic biosensors have a superior sensitivity and accuracy compared to paper stripes. The higher miniaturization potential and production stability accompanied by a better readout simplicity makes them a cheaper alternative to optical systems. In this paper a hybrid microelectronic-microfluidic packaging strategy for a disposable for two different microelectronic biosensor platforms will be presented, targeting the diagnostic of RSV. The multiplexed detection of both, host and pathogen biomarkers in the same sample will lead to a rapid, cheap and accurate diagnosis and prognosis, providing almost real-time results. Platform 1, the BioGrFET sensor uses a graphene field effect transistor (GrFET). The liquid sample containing the biomarkers flows over the sensor's surface with probe molecules, where the target molecules (specific biomarkers) of the fluid can be immobilized. The charge of the biomarker on the surface changes the charge carrier density inside the graphene which can be detected by measuring the graphene field effect transport characteristic. Platform 2, the BioMEMS sensor is a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) having a very thin membrane carrying the active sensor structure, offering additional challenges to device packaging. The liquid sample, containing the biomarkers, flows over the membrane's surface with detection molecules, where the specific biomarkers of the fluid can be immobilized. With the specific biomarkers on the membrane's surface changes the mass and therefore the resonance frequency of the membrane which can be read out. Specific packaging challenge for both sensors is to develop packaging technology flows that allow to add the sensor functionalization during packaging and leaves this functionalization intact until the packaging processes are finalized, which implies a process selection with reduced thermal and mechanical load on the delicate functionalized sensors. This challenge has been mastered for both sensors - yielding two dedicated packaging process flows that were used to manufacture functional sensor packages.
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PublicationHOT-300 - a multidisciplinary technology approach targeting microelectronic systems at 300 °C operating temperature( 2016)
