Silicon Microsystems for Automotive Applications

Dr. Jiri Marek Robert Bosch GmbH Tbinger Strae 123 72765 Reutlingen Germany

The integration of microelectronic and micromechanical devices into one system - the microsystem technology - is rapidly gaining importance in automobiles. According to market studies the content of electronics as well as of microsystems in automobiles is increasing more than proportionally. The major driving forces are the environmental requirements, safety and comfort. The microsystem technology contributes in these areas due to the reduction of costs, weight and size as well as improved reliability and functionality. Sensor systems for the measurement of manifold air intake pressure, mass flow, acceleration for ABS and airbag and yaw rate will be discussed in detail. In the nineties a new technology, the surface micromachining, is emerging. This technology is being made available to small and medium size companies as well as to universities and research institutes by a foundry-service-scheme sponsored by the European Union. 1 Introduction In the last decades the portion of electronics in automobiles is increasing steadily. A study by Economist Intelligence Unit estimates the average portion of electronics in automobiles to 300 US$ in the year 1980. The portion increased to 1200 US$ in the year 1990; for the year 2000 the estimate is 2500 US$ [1]. The world market for automotive electronics will reach by the year 2000 more than 100 billion US$ per year. The microsystem technology is defined as the integration of microelectronic, micromechanical and microoptical components into one device. Due to the system requirements microelectronical and micromechanical components are applied in automotive systems. The application of microelectronical and micromechanical devices in automobiles follows the consumer and industrial applications with and delay of about 5 to 10 years. This delay is due to the large temperature range of -40 to +85 C or even +125 C and the high reliability requirements. The application of microelectronics and micromechanics is increasing steadily in automotive electronic systems. Since the beginning of this decade even the monolithic integration of microsystems is being applied in automobiles. The driving force for microsystems in automobiles are as follows:

1.1 Environmental requirements Due to the high motorization rate in the industrial and increasingly in the developing nations the emission of each automobile has to be minimized. The optimization of the combustion process in gazoline as well as in diesel engines is achieved by digital, electronic motor management systems with fuel injection. In the last years the additional requirement to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) is gaining importance. This reduction can be achieved only by diesel engines with direct injection. This new diesel systems require increased electronical control. 1.2 Safety The customers in the industrial nations ask for improved safety of the automobile. The equipment rates of cars with anti-blocking systems (ABS) and with airbags is increasing rapidly. In 1995 the introduction of the Vehicle Dynamic Control System (VDC) improved the driving and safety performance of the car even further on. 1.3 Comfort The comfort electronics was limited to the car radio in the beginning. This area was expanded by cassette decks and CD-players. Today the customer finds a wide variety of systems: electronic speak control, navigation systems, electronic window and seat positioning, electronic climate control. The application of microsystems in the area of automobile electronics is dominated by the following factors: Cost Reduction Due to the high competition in the automotive industry this factor has high priority. The miniaturization and the batch manufacturing reduces the manufacturing cost for each unit even in spite of the high investment. The integration of the sensor function and the electronics results in a cost advantage. Due to the high development cost medium to high production volume is required. Reliability The integration and the miniaturization reduces the amount of interfaces and connections. The interconnections are the weak point in the harsh environmental requirements in automobiles. Therefore the microsystems make higher reliability level possible. Weight and Size Due to the miniaturization we can achieve a reduction of weight which is gaining increasingly on importance. Since the complexity of electronic control units in car is increasing steadily a reduction of size and therefore space on the printed circuit board is of advantage. Function The progress in microelectronics and integration results in an increased

functionality of new systems like self test, accuracy, detection of shorts and interconnect problems, etc. In this paper we will give a short history of microsystems in automobiles. Especially the application of micromechanical devices will be shown. Several current devices will be shown in more detail. The current trend of device development and process technology will be discussed.

2 Beginning of Microsystems in Automobiles The microsystems - mainly micromechanical devices - started the application in automobiles in the beginning of the eighties. In this timeframe the volume manufacturing of micromechanical pressure sensors started. The sensors contained a discrete sensing chip which was completed to a sensing unit as a manufacturing part. The sensing unit was attached to a printed circuit board with the associated evaluation and trimming circuit. Later on this system was changed to thick film technology for the evaluation electronics. The calibration of the sensor was performed with a laser. The first sensors were used for the measurement of the manifold air intake pressure for electronic fuel injection. Even today this application is the largest portion of the market. The applications of the pressure sensors were expanded: the measurement of atmospheric pressure, the ABS hydraulic pressure and the airconditioning compressor are the next systems. In the beginning of the nineties the first integrated pressure sensors are being manufactured. The sensor consists of the sensing element as well as the evaluation and compensation circuit on one single chip. The measurement of MAP pressure was also the first application in this case. Besides the pressure the acceleration is the important physical value to be measured in the car. For airbag systems an acceleration sensor was developed in the eighties. A bimorph piezoelectric element was used for signal generation. The generated electrical charge is amplified by a hybrid electronic circuit. In this area the first micromechanical solutions are appearing in the beginning of the nineties.

3 Applications 3.1 Pressure Sensors The first figure shows a schematical cross section of an integrated pressure sensor [2, 3]. A standard S i -s u bs t ra t e (p ) c a v ern e bipolar process is used for the manufacturing of the evaluation circuit on the front side of the p y rex g l a s s wafer. During m e ta l li z a ti o n the bipolar Figure 1: Schematic cross section of the integrated pressure sensor. process the piezo-resistors as well as the interconnects are manufactured for the sensing element. After the bipolar process the wafer is exposed with the structure of the cavity on the backside. This process requires special equipment since the structure on the backside has to be aligned to the frontside. The passivation in the exposed area is removed. Anisotropic etching is used to remove the silicon in this area of the wafer.
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The etching stops automatically at the interface of the buried layer which has been manufactured in this area during the bipolar process. The silicon wafer is attached to a plate of pyrex glass by anodic bonding. A pressure difference across the membrane results in a mechanical deflection of the plate. The resulting mechanical strain has a maximum at the middle of the edges of the membrane. Piezo-resistors were diffused in this area during the bipolar process.

The four piezo-resistors are connected to a wheatstone bridge. This bridge delivers raw signal of about 100 mV without amplification. The evaluation and trimming circuit as well as the sensor membrane is shown on the chip photograph (figure 2). The evaluation circuit amplifies the signal to a calibrated 5 V output. The accuracy requirement for MAP sensors is on the order of 1 %. The manufacturing tolerances of sensitivity, offset as well as the temperature coefficients have to be compensated. The signal conditioning for the sensor is shown in figure 3.

Figure 2: Chip photograph of the integrated pressure sensor.

The output of the wheatstone bridge is converted to a current SENSOR TCS signal. At this node an T A U/I offset compensating UA current as well as a TCO-current is added. The final amplifier PROGRAMMING VOLTAGE uses this current to OFFSET, TRIMMING TCO CIRCUIT generate the 5 V output T trimming signal. The sensitivity pins LOGIC ... signal pins is adjusted by changing the amplification factor of this amplifier. The Figure 3: Schematics of the electronic evaluation and trimming circuit of the temperature coefficient pressure sensor. of sensitivity is adjusted by supplying the wheatstone bridge with a temperature depended supply voltage. The compensation is performed using an electronic trimming process. A digital compensation data word is supplied to the logic circuit. This logic circuit selects the different compensation paths. Each paths contains a compensation thyristor. A binary weighted compensation current is short circuited to ground by the thyristor or this current goes to the compensation node in the off-mode. The compensation data can be changed and the output characteristic of the sensor is modified. In the case of proper output characteristic the programming voltage is increased and the data is stored in the thyristor by a method similar to zener zapping: the thyristor will become permanently conductive.
Sensor Signal Conditioning
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This calibration method substitutes the capital intensive laser trimming. The electronic compensation is performed at the end of the manufacturing process on the finished device. The final inspection and trimming is combined into one manufacturing step resulting in a cost reduction. For MAP applications the sensing element is soldered on a TO8-type header (figure 4). The chip is wire bonded to the pins. The cap of the header is welded under vacuum. The reference vacuum of the sensor is enclosed under the cap. The pressure to be measured is guided by a small pipe to the backside of the chip. Due to the high media requirements this elaborate mounting method has to be used for MAP applications.

The integrated pressure chip can be modified for different applications. The mounting and packaging can be also varied. For the measurement of barometric pressure for diesel motor management systems the chip is mounted on a ceramic substrate. In this case the pyrex plate does not contain a hole in the backside. The reference vacuum is enclosed between the sensor chip and the pyrex. This device can be soldered directly on to the printed circuit board by a surface mount technique. A plastic cap is used for Figure 4: Integrated manifold air intake pressure sensor. mechanical protection (figure 5). In the case of an application inside the electronic control unit the requirements for media resistance are not as high. Therefore the pressure can be applied on to the frontside of the chip [4]. 3.2 Massflow Sensors Besides the measurements of the MAP pressure the condition of the engine can be deduced from the measurement of the air mass going into the combustion chamber. In the US and in Europe the air mass flow sensors found wide application.

Figure 5: Integrated barometric pressure sensor in SMD package.

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Figure 6: Principle of measurement funtion of the micromechanical mass flow sensor.

The figure 6 shows the functional principle of a micromechanical air flow sensor. A thin membrane has been etched out of the silicon wafer in order to achieve a good thermal isolation of the sensing elements. In the middle of the membrane a heating element is deposited. A heating current increases the temperature in the middle of the membrane. Without air flow the thermal profile is symmetrical to both sides of the heating element. To the left and to the right of the heating element two temperature sensors are located. An air flow from the left side decreases the temperature on this side of the membrane; the temperature sensor T1 detects a lower temperature. The measurement of the temperature difference between the left and the right temperature sensors is a direct indicator of the air flow over the chip. The thermal mass of the device is very small. This sensor exhibits small response times; even pulsation of air inside the manifold can be detected. The sensor chip is attached to a metall frame. The evaluation IC is situated on a small hybrid circuit (figure 7). The sensor chip is connected with wire bonds to this evaluation circuit. Due to the low power consumption power drivers are not needed.

3.3 Accelerome ters Silicon bulk micromachining is used mainly for the manufacturing of highly sensitive acceleration sensors with full scale of one to two g. In this segment Figure 7: Micromechanical mass flow sensor with hybrid evaluation circuit. capacitive pickup is of advantage. Figure 8 shows such an acceleration sensor. A seismic mass suspended by two beams is etched out of the silicon wafer. This movable structure is bonded between an upper and lower wafer. An acceleration perpendicular to the wafer surface moves the mass out of the center position. This displacement is detected by the top and bottom capacitance between the wafers. The capacitive half bridge is used for signal pickup. The manufacturing processes for this device are very different from IC manufacturing. Therefore the integration of this sensing chip onto ICs is not possible. The sensors manufactured with this technology are applied mainly for ABS, suspension control and vehicle dynamics control (VDC). The largest segment for accelerometers are the airbag systems. The first acceleration sensors for airbag systems were produced using piezoelectric sensing elements in the middle of the eighties.
Figure 8: Capacitive acceleration sensor in bulk micromachining.

Acceleration sensors in this technology are still being produced in large volume. Figure 9a shows a new design for an airbag piezoelectric acceleration sensor. The piezoceramic is mounted perpendiculary onto a thick film hybrid using a new mounting technology. An acceleration perpendicular to the hybrid plate bends the piezoceramic and generates electrical charge. The electrical charge is amplified with a high impendance amplifier. The calibration of sensitivity is performed also in this IC. Due to the moisture-sensitivity of the piezoceramic a hermetic metall package is used (Figure 9b). The new mounting process for the piezoceramic makes the direct soldering of this package into the printed circuit board possible. No additional mounting components are necessary.

Figure 9b: Hermetic metall package. Figure 9a: Piezoelectric airbag acceleration sensor with direct mounting in printed circuit boards.

In the beginning of the nineties the surface micromachining technology was used for the first time for commercial devices: the airbag sensors. In contrast to bulk micromachining the surface micromachining uses layers on the surface of the wafer. Polycrystalline silicon layers are desposited using vapor phase deposition onto the silicon wafer. Out of this layer the movable structures are etched out. This etching has to be performed with high structural precision and has to yield perpendicular walls. After the structuring of the polysilicon the underlaying silicon oxide layer is etched away. This so called sacrifical layer was deposited previously between the wafer and the polysilicon. Since the sacrifical layer is removed, the polysilicon structure can move freely.

Figure 10: Functional principle of an acceleration sensor in surface micromachining.

Figure 10 shows the functional principle of a surface micromachined acceleration sensor. The seismic mass is suspended at the four corners by springs. The fingers to both sides of the seismic mass as well as fingers attached to the wafer surface form a capacitance for signal pick up. This capacitance is changed during acceleration. For particle and handling protection a silicon cap is attached to the front of the wafer [5]. Figure 11 shows the acceleration sensor as well as the associated evaluation circuit inside a standard plastic PLCC-package. Due to the polysilicon thickness of 10 m large working capacitances can be realized. The device shows only very small sensitivity to mechanical stresses during plastic Figure 11: Surface micromachined acceleration sensor in PLCC28 package. packaging. Therefore, standard plastic packages can be used for the acceleration sensor. The small sensing element makes highly integrated satellite airbag sensors possible. The Peripheral Acceleration Sensor (PAS) is shown in figure 12. The sensing element is mounted onto a hybrid substrate. The electrical wire bonds go directly to the evaluation circuit. This circuit contains also the peripheral functions for the PAS. A standard microcontroller is the third component on the hybrid substrate. Very compact, highly integrated peripheral acceleration sensor is manufactured.

Figure 12: Peripheral Acceleration Sensor for side airbag.

3.4 Yaw Rate Sensors A precision yaw rate sensor can be realized using a combination of surface and bulk micromachining. Figure 13 shows the principle function for this device. Two plates have been etched out of the silicon wafer using bulk micromachining. Each of the plates is suspended by four folded beams at each of the edges. Aluminium wires are deposited on these springs and plates. An oscillating electrical current in combination with a magnetic field drives the two plates at the resonant frequency. On top of the oscillating masses two acceleration sensors using surface micromachining have been manufactured. A rotation along the axis perpendicular to the wafer produces a coriolis force onto the oscillating mass; the acceleration sensors are deflected from their center position. The difference between the acceleration sensors measures the yaw rate along the perpendicular axes. The complete device is shown in figure 14. A highly complex evaluation and trimming circuit is necessary for the yaw rate sensor resulting in a highly accurate signal [6].

Figure 13: Functional principle of the yaw rate sensor.

4 Development Trends The field application of micromachining started in the beginning of the eighties with the manufacturing of discrete sensors using bulk micromachining. Two main segments were selected: the measurement of the MAP pressure and the realization of airbag sensors. These two segments covered the majority of this technology in the automotive field. Now the applications of the descrete sensors is being diversified (figure 15 + 16). Pressure sensors for the measurement of ABS-pressure, Figure 14: High precision yaw rate sensor in oil-pressure, air conditioning compressor surface bulk micromachining. pressure, fuel tank pressure and others are realized. In the beginning of the nineties the first integrated microsystems are coming to the market: the first integrated pressure sensors are entering mass production. These sensors are also based on bulk micromachining.
discrete sensors (pressure, acceleration)

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integration IC/sensor integration C/sensor complex sensors (mass flow, yaw rate) chemical sensors passive structures actuators

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Figure 15: Trends of microsystem devices in automotive systems.

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Figure 16: Technology trends for automotive microsystems.

Several years later the first integrated acceleration sensors are being introduced. For this sensor surface micromachining is commercialized for the first time. Further steps of integration of sensor function and evaluation circuits is expected. The next step of integration would be the integration of sensing element and the evaluation circuit onto a microcontroller. The advancement of microelectronics and integration techniques makes the realization of very complexe systems possible. The high integration complexity will be achieved only for few devices. These devices are dominated by the advantages of the integration: reduction of interconnections, increased functionality, reduction of costs.

The integration has also several disadvantages: increased process complexity, longer development cycles, reduction of yields, sometimes even a cost increase, higher tooling costs, lower flexibility.

In some sensor areas hybrid-integrated sensors will remain: sensors with small manufacturing volume, complex sensors with large chip area and high process complexity, sensors with processing steps very different from IC technology.

The decision for monolithic or hybrid-integration sensors is very important for the development cycle. Therefore, this decision is of strategic importance. Besides sensors for the measurement of physical values chemical sensors based on micromachining will be introduced at the end of this decade. Due to the low compatibility of these processes with IC manufacturing discrete realization method will be prefered. The application of such sensors in automobiles is dominated by the requirements on selectivity and long term stability. The prove of this performance will decide about the application in automotive systems. Integration of microcontrollers and sensorfunction will be feasible by the year 2000. However, the development aspects listed above will decide about the volume production of such systems. The low flexibility and the very high production volume in one segment are a big disadvantage.

5 Foundry-Service Surface Micromachining As shown in figure 14 surface micromachining is a new technology for microsystems. Robert Bosch GmbH decided to offer this new technology also to external customers

and universities as well as research institutes. This project is being supported by the European Community within Framework IV.

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Figure 17: Foundry service for devices in surface micromachining technology.

Projects within this foundry-service are shown in figure 17. Bosch published in June 1996 design rules for the surface micromachining process. The customer designs structures according to the design rules. Designs of different customers are combined to a multi-chip-wafer and are processed during one run. After the processing the chips are sawn and delivered to the different customers. Standard packages are also offered within the project. Figure 18 shows typical structures of these devices. This project gives small and medium companies access to a new technology which is otherwise only accessable to very few large companies. After the prototype manufacturing the customer can enter into a supply agreement in order to cover the volume manufacturing.

Figure 18: Typical structures in surface micromachining technology.

Since the process is used for a variety of devices and customers the large volume results in a very well controlled process. Manufacturing of smaller volumes is being made possible.

Literature [1] [2] The Electronics Revolution in the Motor Industry. London: The EIU, 1994 Kress, H.-J.; Hckel, K.; Schatz, O.; Muchow, J.: Integrated Silicon Pressure Sensor with On-Chip Compensation of Temperature Effects Using Programmable Thyristors. Microsystems, 1994 Kress, H.-J.; Marek, J.; Mast, M.; Schatz, O.; Muchow, J.: Integrated Silicon Pressure Sensor for Automotive Application with Electronic Trimming. SAE Paper Nr. 950533, 1995 Arand, D.; Marek, J.; Weiblen, K.; Lipphardt, U.: Integrated Barometric Pressure Sensor with SMD Packaging. SAE Technical Paper Series 960756, 1996 Offenberg, M.; Mnzel, H.; Schubert, D.; Schatz, O.; Lrmer, F.; Mller, E.; Maihfer, B.; Marek, J.: Acceleration Sensor in Surface Micromachining for Airbag Applications with High Signal/Noise Ratio. SAE Technical Paper Series, 960758 Lutz, M.; Golderer, W.; Gerstenmeier, J.; Marek, J.; Maihfer, B.; Mahler, S.; Mnzel, H.; Bischof, U.: A Precision Yaw Rate Sensor in Silicon Micromachining. To be published in Proceedings of Transducers 97 Conference, 1997

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