JP2010028517A - Method of manufacturing elastic wave apparatus and elastic wave apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a method of manufacturing an elastic wave apparatus by which electrode materials hardly corrode in resist development and reliability in electrical connection is improved. <P>SOLUTION: The method of manufacturing an elastic wave apparatus, includes the steps of: forming a first electrode 3 constituted of a first layered conductive film obtained by layering a plurality of metal films on an upper surface of a piezoelectric substrate 1; and forming a resist layer after forming the first electrode 3, and performing patterning while using a developer to form the resist pattern layer 4 having an opening 4a; wherein, prior to the development processing, an insulating film 6 is formed to cover a side surface portion of the first electrode 3 that may be exposed in a portion wherein the opening 4a is formed, and development processing is performed while protecting the side surface of the first electrode 3 with the insulating film 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device such as an acoustic wave resonator and an acoustic wave filter, and more particularly to an acoustic wave device in which an electrode made of a laminated conductive film is formed on a piezoelectric substrate. The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and an acoustic wave device.

  Conventionally, surface acoustic wave devices such as surface acoustic wave resonators and surface acoustic wave filters using surface acoustic waves have been widely used in RF stages of mobile phones. In recent years, various acoustic wave devices using boundary acoustic waves instead of surface acoustic waves have been proposed. In this type of acoustic wave device, an electrode structure including an IDT electrode is formed on a piezoelectric substrate. An electrode structure including an IDT electrode is formed of various metals. In many cases, an electrode such as an IDT electrode is formed using a stacked conductive film in which a plurality of metal films are stacked.

For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a surface acoustic wave device shown in FIG. In the surface acoustic wave device 101 shown in FIG. 9, the IDT electrode 103 is formed on the piezoelectric substrate 102. The IDT electrode 103 has a plurality of electrode fingers. FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional structure of a portion of the IDT electrode 103 where a plurality of electrode fingers are formed. An insulating layer 104 made of SiO ₂ is formed so as to fill a groove between adjacent electrode fingers, and a second insulating layer 105 made of an SiO ₂ film is formed so as to cover the insulating layer 104 and the IDT electrode 103. Is formed.

  The IDT electrode 103 has a main electrode layer 103a. The main electrode layer 103a is made of Cu or an alloy containing Cu as a main component. In order to improve the adhesion of the IDT electrode 103 to the piezoelectric substrate 102, an adhesion layer 103b made of Ti is formed below the main electrode layer 103a. In addition, an electrode layer 103c whose main component is a metal that is less likely to be oxidized than Cu is formed above the main electrode layer 103a. The electrode layer 103c is made of, for example, an Al—Cu alloy.

  As described above, since the IDT electrode 103 is formed by the laminated conductive film formed by laminating the plurality of electrode layers 103a to 103c, power durability and reliability are improved.

  On the other hand, recently, in order to further improve the reliability and power durability, an IDT electrode in which electrode layers made of Al / Ti / Pt / NiCr metals are stacked in order from above has been proposed. Here, the Al electrode layer and the Pt electrode layer are the main electrode layers, and the electrode layer made of Ti is provided in order to improve the adhesion between the electrode layer made of Al and the electrode layer made of Pt. This electrode layer is provided to improve the adhesion to the piezoelectric substrate.

In manufacturing such a surface acoustic wave device, the first electrode made of the laminated conductive film is formed, and then the second electrode electrically connected to the first electrode is formed by a photolithography method. There are things to do. In this case, after the first electrode is formed on the piezoelectric substrate, a resist layer is formed on the entire surface. Next, the resist layer is patterned to expose a part of the first electrode and form an opening. The opening is formed by developing the resist layer with a developer and removing the resist material in the portion where the opening is to be formed. Next, a second electrode is formed so as to be electrically connected to the first electrode in the opening.
JP 2006-115548 A

  The developer used for patterning the resist layer is an aqueous alkaline solution. On the other hand, in the 1st electrode which consists of the said laminated conductive film, Al and Pt are laminated | stacked via Ti or directly, for example. In this case, the side surface of the first electrode is exposed at the first electrode portion exposed at the opening of the resist layer. That is, there is a problem that the side surface where the Al layer and the Pt layer are laminated is exposed to the developer, and Al is corroded by the developer. For this reason, the laminated structure of the first electrode may be destroyed, and the intended electrical characteristics may not be obtained.

  The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and the first electrode is difficult to corrode during the development process of the resist layer. Therefore, the desired electrical characteristics can be expressed and the reliability can be improved. An object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method capable of obtaining an excellent elastic wave device and the elastic wave device.

  The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to the present invention includes a step of forming a first electrode made of a laminated conductive film formed by laminating a plurality of metal films on an upper surface of a piezoelectric substrate, and after forming the first electrode, A step of forming a resist pattern layer having an opening through which a part of the first electrode is exposed, and before the formation of the resist pattern layer, the resist pattern layer is exposed in the opening of the resist pattern layer. A step of forming an insulating film made of an insulating material so as to cover a side surface of the first electrode in a portion to be, and a step of forming a second electrode so as to be connected to the first electrode .

  In a specific aspect of the method of manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to the present invention, the second electrode is electrically connected to the first electrode portion exposed in the opening of the resist pattern layer. It is formed. In this case, since the first electrode is hardly corroded by the developer, the second electrode can be reliably electrically connected to the first electrode.

  In another specific aspect of the method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to the present invention, at the time of forming the first electrode, at least one IDT electrode and a first wiring pattern connected to the at least one IDT electrode; When the second electrode is formed, at least an electrode pad and a second wiring pattern connected to the electrode pad are formed. In this case, the IDT electrode and the electrode pad can be formed by different electrodes. Therefore, since the IDT electrode can be formed using a laminated conductive film suitable for the IDT electrode, the characteristics of the acoustic wave device can be improved and the degree of design freedom can be increased.

  In still another specific aspect of the method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to the present invention, the first laminated conductive film is a laminated conductive film formed by laminating a metal film made of a noble metal and a metal film made of a base metal. is there. The conductive film made of the base metal is easily corroded by the developer. However, according to the present invention, the side surface of the first electrode made of the first laminated conductive film is covered with the insulating film, so that the conductive film made of the base metal is used. Corrosion of the film can be surely prevented.

  In the method for manufacturing an elastic wave device according to the present invention, Pt or Au is preferably used as the noble metal used in the first laminated conductive film. In this case, the reflection coefficient of the elastic wave can be increased. Further, as the base metal, Al or an Al alloy is preferably used, and in that case, electrical loss can be reduced.

The insulating film is preferably made of one silicon compound selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon nitride oxide. In this case, in the acoustic wave device using the piezoelectric substrate made of LiNbO ₃ or LiTaO ₃ , the absolute value of the frequency temperature coefficient TCF can be reduced, and the temperature characteristics can be improved.

  In still another specific aspect of the present invention, the insulating film is made of an organic polymer, and in that case, the insulating film can be easily formed so as to cover the side surface of the first electrode.

  The acoustic wave device according to the present invention includes a piezoelectric substrate, a first electrode formed on the piezoelectric substrate, made of a first laminated conductive film, and a part of the first electrode on the piezoelectric substrate. A second electrode provided to have a portion overlapped with the first electrode, and a side surface of the first electrode in a portion where the first electrode is located in the second electrode formation region And an insulating film provided.

  According to the method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device and the acoustic wave device according to the present invention, a part of the first electrode is exposed in the opening of the resist pattern layer, and the side surface of the first electrode is formed by the insulating film. Since it is coated, the first electrode is hardly corroded by the developer. Therefore, it is possible to provide an elastic wave device having desired electrical characteristics and excellent reliability.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be clarified by describing specific embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

With reference to FIG. 1 (a)-(c)-FIG. 4, the manufacturing method of the elastic wave apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In the present embodiment, a piezoelectric substrate 1 shown in FIG. As the piezoelectric substrate 1, it is possible to use a substrate made of a piezoelectric ceramic such as a piezoelectric single crystal or PZT, such as LiTaO ₃ or LiNbO _3.

  A first electrode 3 including an IDT electrode 2 a is formed on the piezoelectric substrate 1. When the first electrode 3 is formed, a plurality of metal films are formed on the entire surface of the piezoelectric substrate 1 by a thin film forming method such as vapor deposition, plating, or sputtering, and then patterned. Patterning is performed by an appropriate method such as a photolithography method.

  The first electrode 3 is composed of a first laminated conductive film formed by laminating a plurality of metal films. Here, in order from the top, a plurality of metal films made of these metals are stacked in the order of Ti / Al / Ti / Pt / NiCr. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1C, which shows an enlarged end portion of the first electrode 3, from above, the Ti film 3a, the Al film 3b, the Ti film 3c, the Pt film 3d, and the NiCr The film 3e is laminated in this order. Here, the main electrode layers are the Al film 3b and the Pt film 3d which are relatively thick. The NiCr film 3 e is provided as a layer that improves the adhesion to the piezoelectric substrate 1. The Ti film 3c is provided to improve the adhesion between the Al film 3b and the Pt film 3d. The uppermost Ti film 3a is provided as a protective film for preventing oxidation of the Al film 3b.

  In FIGS. 1A and 1B, the first electrode 3 is illustrated as a first layer for ease of illustration, but in reality, as described above, five metal films are stacked. This is a laminated conductive film. As shown in the schematic plan view of FIG. 4, the first electrode 3 is electrically connected to the IDT electrode 2a, the first wiring pattern 2b connected to the IDT electrode 2a, and the first wiring pattern 2b. And an electrode pad 2c connected thereto. The electrode pad 2c is a part where a part thereof is exposed in an opening of a resist pattern layer to be formed later.

  After the first electrode 3 is formed, an insulating film 6 shown in FIG. The insulating film 6 is provided so as to cover the side surface of a part of the first electrode 3 exposed in the opening of the resist pattern layer formed in a later step, in this case, a part of the electrode pad 2c. Yes. The side surface only needs to be covered, but in the present embodiment, the side surface is covered and part of the upper surface of the first electrode 3 is formed.

The insulating film 6 can be formed of an appropriate insulating material such as an inorganic edge material such as SiO ₂ , SiN or SiON, or an organic polymer material. When the inorganic insulating material is used, it can be formed simultaneously with the insulating film formed so as to cover the IDT electrode. In addition, when an insulating film is formed using an organic polymer material, the insulating film can be easily formed.

  The insulation 6 may be formed by forming the first electrode 3 and then forming the insulating film 6 by photolithography, or by printing an insulating material so as to cover the side surface of the first electrode 3. It can be performed by an appropriate method.

  After the insulating film 6 is formed, a resist layer is formed on the entire upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate 1. Next, this resist layer is patterned by a photolithography method to form a resist pattern layer 4 shown in FIG. The resist pattern layer 4 has an opening 4a. The first electrode 3 is partially exposed in the opening 4a. In patterning for forming the opening 4a, a resist layer is formed on the entire surface with a photoresist material mainly composed of an alkali-soluble resin. Next, the photoresist except the portion where the opening 4a is formed is cured by irradiation with light, and then treated with an alkali developer 5 to thereby position the photoresist located in the uncured opening 4a. Remove material.

  In this case, a part of the first electrode 3 is exposed to the alkaline developer 5 as shown in FIG. However, an insulating film 6 that covers the first electrode 3 is formed in advance in a portion exposed to the alkaline developer 5. That is, the insulating film 6 covers the side surface of the first electrode 3. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1C, the exposed portion of the side surface of the Al film 3 b is covered with the insulating film 6.

  Therefore, since the Al film 3b is not exposed to the alkaline developer 5, the Al film 3b is hardly corroded. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).

  2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining a comparative example in which the insulating film 6 is not formed. When the insulating film 6 is not formed, the side surface of the Al film 3 b is exposed to the alkaline developer 5. Since Al is an amphoteric metal, it is dissolved by an alkali developer. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, the Al film 3b is dissolved.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1C, since the side surface of the Al film 3b is covered with the insulating film 6, the corrosion of the Al film 3b does not proceed.

  Next, after the step shown in FIG. 1B, a metal film for forming the second electrode is formed on the entire surface by vapor deposition, sputtering, or plating. The metal film adheres not only in the opening 4 a but also on the upper surface of the resist pattern layer 4. Thereafter, the resist pattern layer 4 and unnecessary electrode material on the resist pattern layer 4 are removed by a lift-off method using a solvent. In this way, the second electrode 8 shown in FIG. 3 can be formed. The second electrode 8 is formed in a portion corresponding to the region where the opening 4a is formed. Since the first electrode 3 is not corroded, the second electrode 8 is reliably electrically connected to the first electrode 3. In this way, the reliability of the electrical connection of the second electrode 8 to the first electrode 3 can be effectively increased.

  A more specific second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, a piezoelectric substrate 11 made of LiNbO ₃ is prepared. Next, an insulating film 12 made of SiO ₂ is formed on the entire surface of the piezoelectric substrate 11. The thickness of the insulating film was 120 nm. The insulating film 12 was formed by sputtering.

  The thickness of the insulating film 12 and the thickness of the first electrode 3 are equal, and the upper surfaces of both are flush with each other.

Next, a resist layer was formed on the entire surface of the insulating film 12 made of SiO ₂ using a photoresist material developed with an alkali developer. Thereafter, patterning was performed by photolithography to form a resist pattern layer 13 shown in FIG. The resist pattern layer 13 has an opening 13a corresponding to a portion where the first electrode including the IDT electrode is formed.

Thereafter, the lower insulating film 12 made of SiO ₂ is dry-etched using the resist pattern layer 13 as a mask. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5C, the upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate 11 is exposed in the portion where the first electrode is scheduled to be formed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5D, a first laminated conductive film for forming a first electrode is formed on the entire surface of the piezoelectric substrate 11 with the resist pattern layer 13 remaining. Here, a NiCr film, a Pt film, a Ti film, and an AlCu film were laminated in this order from the bottom in order. The thickness of each metal film was set to NiCr film = 10 nm, Pt film = 30 nm, Ti film = 10 nm, and AlCu film = 70 nm. After forming this laminated conductive film by vapor deposition, the resist pattern layer 13 and the upper laminated conductive film were removed by lift-off. Thereby, the structure shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B was obtained. Here, the first electrode 3 is formed with the same thickness as the patterned insulating film 12. The main electrode layers are a relatively thick Pt film and an AlCu film, and the Ti film is provided to improve the adhesion between the electrode layers on both sides. The NiCr film is provided as an adhesion layer that improves the adhesion of the piezoelectric substrate 11. The first electrode 3 has an IDT electrode 2a, a first wiring pattern 2b, and an electrode pad 2c electrically connected to the IDT electrode 2a via the wiring pattern 2b. The electrode pad 2c has a rectangular shape with a certain area. However, the planar shape of the electrode pad 2c is not particularly limited.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7A, a second insulating film 21 made of SiO ₂ and a third insulating film 22 made of SiN are formed on the entire upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate 11. The thickness of the SiO ₂ film was 470 nm, and the thickness of the SiN film was 60 nm.

  Thereafter, patterning was performed as shown in FIG. 7B by photolithography and dry etching to form the opening 23. The opening 23 corresponds to a portion where the second electrode 8 is formed. However, in this embodiment, in FIG. 7B, a part of the second and third insulating films 21 and 22 is left in a part of the opening 23. This is because the insulating film is formed according to the present invention so as to cover the first electrode 3 exposed in the opening 23, more specifically, the side surface of the electrode pad 2c. In other words, a part of the second insulating film 21 is left so that the second insulating film 21 covers the side surface of the first electrode 3 exposed at the opening 23. In this case, the third insulating film 22 on the second insulating film 21 also remains.

  Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, a photoresist layer was formed on the entire surface, and the photoresist layer was patterned as shown in FIG. 8A to form a resist pattern layer 24. An alkaline developer was used for this patterning. Since the side surface of the electrode pad 2c is covered with the second insulating film 21 corresponding to the insulating film 6 in the first embodiment, corrosion of the first electrode 3 hardly occurs.

  Thereafter, similarly to the first embodiment, a metal film for forming the second metal is formed on the entire surface, and the excess metal material is removed together with the resist layer by a lift-off method. In this way, the second electrode 8 shown in FIG. 8B is formed. The second electrode 8 is made of a second laminated conductive film. The second laminated conductive film was formed by evaporating an AlCu film, a Ti film, and an Al film sequentially from the bottom so as to have thicknesses of 500 nm, 200 nm, and 1000 nm, respectively. Since the 2nd electrode 8 is firmly joined with the 1st electrode 3, the reliability of the electrical connection between both can be improved.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, metal bumps 25 are formed on the upper surface of the second electrode 8. Therefore, according to this embodiment, an elastic wave device that can be flip-chip bonded using the metal bumps 25 can be obtained.

  According to the experiment of the present inventor, the processing time with the alkali developer is usually about 20 to 30 seconds. When the side surface is not covered with the second insulating film 21, an Al film having a thickness of 1000 nm is formed. Corrosion has occurred so as to have a thickness of several tens to several hundreds of nanometers. On the other hand, according to this embodiment, such corrosion was able to be suppressed reliably.

  In the first and second embodiments, the 1-port type acoustic wave resonator including the IDT electrode 2a is formed on the piezoelectric substrates 1 and 11, but the present invention is not limited to the 1-port type acoustic wave resonator. The present invention can be applied to the manufacture of various acoustic wave devices such as an acoustic wave filter formed by connecting a plurality of acoustic wave resonators and an acoustic wave delay line. The present invention can be applied not only to surface acoustic waves, but also to methods for manufacturing boundary acoustic wave devices that use boundary acoustic waves.

(A) is schematic front sectional drawing which shows the state which formed the insulating film so that the side surface of a 1st electrode might be covered in the manufacturing method of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, (b) is alkali It is front sectional drawing which shows the state which patterned the resist layer with the developing solution, (c) is a typical expanded sectional view which shows the state by which the side surface of the 1st electrode is coat | covered with the insulating film. (A) And (b) is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the first electrode is exposed to the alkaline developer in the manufacturing method of the comparative example, and a part of the first electrode is corroded by the alkaline developer. FIG. It is typical front sectional drawing for demonstrating the elastic wave apparatus obtained with the manufacturing method of 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic plan view which shows the electrode structure of the elastic wave apparatus obtained by 1st Embodiment. (A)-(d) is typical front sectional drawing for demonstrating each process of the manufacturing method of the elastic wave apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. (A) And (b) is the front sectional view and top view showing the state after the 1st electrode was formed in the manufacturing method of the elastic wave device of a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. (A) And (b) is each typical front which shows the state which formed the 2nd, 3rd insulating film, and the state which patterned the 2nd, 3rd insulating film in the manufacturing method of 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing. In the manufacturing method of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is typical front sectional drawing which shows the state after a resist layer is patterned, (b) is for forming a 2nd electrode. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the state which formed the metal film of the whole surface, (c) is typical sectional drawing which shows the state after 2nd electrode formation. It is front sectional drawing for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the conventional surface acoustic wave apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,11 ... Piezoelectric substrate 2a ... IDT electrode 2b ... 1st wiring pattern 2c ... Electrode pad 3 ... 1st electrode 3a ... Ti film 3b ... Al film 3c ... Ti film 3d ... Pt film 3e ... NiCr film 4 ... Resist Pattern layer 4a ... Opening 5 ... Alkali developer 6 ... Insulating film 8 ... Second electrode 12 ... Insulating film 13 ... Resist pattern layer 13a ... Opening 21 ... Second insulating film 22 ... Third insulating film 23 ... Opening 24 ... Resist pattern layer 25 ... Metal bump

Claims (9)

Forming a first electrode made of a laminated conductive film formed by laminating a plurality of metal films on the upper surface of the piezoelectric substrate;
Forming a resist pattern layer having an opening through which a part of the first electrode is exposed after forming the first electrode;
Before forming the resist pattern layer, an insulating film made of an insulating material is provided so as to cover the side surface of the first electrode in a portion of the first electrode that is exposed to the opening of the resist pattern layer. Forming, and
Forming a second electrode so as to be connected to the first electrode.   2. The method of manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to claim 1, wherein the second electrode is formed so as to be electrically connected to the first electrode portion exposed in the opening of the resist pattern layer. In forming the first electrode, at least one IDT electrode and a first wiring pattern connected to the at least one IDT electrode are formed,
The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to claim 2, wherein at the time of forming the second electrode, at least an electrode pad and a second wiring pattern connected to the electrode pad are formed.   The elastic wave device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first laminated conductive film is a laminated conductive film obtained by laminating a metal film made of a noble metal and a metal film made of a base metal. Production method.   The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to claim 4, wherein the noble metal is Pt or Au. The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to claim 4, wherein the base metal is Al or an Al alloy.   The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film is made of one kind of silicon compound selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon nitride oxide.   The method for manufacturing an acoustic wave device according to claim 1, wherein the insulating film is made of an organic polymer. A piezoelectric substrate;
A first electrode formed on the piezoelectric substrate and made of a first laminated conductive film;
A second electrode provided on the piezoelectric substrate so as to have a portion superimposed on a part of the first electrode;
An elastic wave device comprising: an insulating film provided so as to cover a side surface of the first electrode in a portion where the first electrode is located in the second electrode formation region.

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