First Status Workshop of the BMBF Growth Core HIPS

25. March 2021

Andrea Cyriax reports on SiCer substrates in pressure sensors (see image)

Organized by the host TU Ilmenau, the first public status workshop on the growth core HIPS will take place on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The workshop will be organized as a free online event from 9:00 to 16:30. Guests and interested parties are welcome to attend!

In the growth core HIPS (High Performance Sensors), 12 Thuringian industrial companies and 7 research institutions are involved in bringing the already patented SiCer technology, a unique combination of silicon technology (Si) with ceramic multilayer technology (Cer), to application maturity. The essential building block is a technology that is designed as a three-dimensional multilayer structure and contains electrical and electronic functions for sensor information acquisition and processing as well as system technology elements of fluidics and sensor technology (SiCer®).
The networking of the two technology worlds creates a completely new technology platform with a variety of new sensors and measurement variables. They open up a wide range of applications in many industries. The common goal of the partners, who are mainly located in the technology triangle Ilmenau – Erfurt – Jena/Hermsdorf of the Sensorland Thuringia, is to develop new high-performance sensors based on the SiCer technology and to market them as a network in the future.

The CiS Research Institute is involved in the development of the innovative multi-sensor platform for gases, gas concentrations, pressures and temperatures in order to be able to measure them quantitatively in demanding environments.
In the subproject Next Generation Pressure Sensors with SiCer Technology (DS-SiCer, Funding code: 03WKDG03A), the CiS Research Institute focuses on the development of a SiCer-based pressure sensor and the technologies to be developed simultaneously with it, such as Si semiconductor processes, assembly and interconnection technology and measurement technology. Starting from the conception via simulation and processing up to qualification, the individual value-added steps for an industrial implementation are considered and prepared for the development of further sensor types such as NDIR sensor temperature sensor and multisensor.

The subproject Platform for a SiCer compatible Si sensor technology (SiCer-SST, Funding code: 03WKDG018) focuses the CiS Research Institute on the research of Si processes and processes of AVT for highly integrated electronic systems with extended sensor functionality. The focus here is on the development and qualification of SiCer compatible RIE/DRIE patterning processes and as well as the development of wafer level soldering and bonding processes, separation technologies as well as packaging processes including qualification by aging and reliability investigations.

This event, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, will provide an overview of the focal areas of the growth core as well as the state of the art in research and technology for high-performance sensor technology, multilayer ceramic technology and Si-based interconnection technology.