Technical Details of Hermetic Sensor Packaging
SCHOTT’s expertise in hermetic packaging combined with a drive for creative innovation enables us to develop unique, customer-specific designs. Options include size, shape, materials, number of I/Os, and interconnects. The manufacturing process can also be adapted to meet individual customer needs.
Reliability
SCHOTT’s sensor packages can be designed to offer exceptional robustness and longevity:
- Lifetime* – up to 30 years, e.g. in oil and gas applications.
- Pressure resistance* – up to 2,000 bar, e.g. in automotive pressure sensors.
- Temperature resistance* – from -200°C to +1000°C and above.
- Wide temperature stability, typically between -200°C and +450°C.
- Feedthroughs designed with HEATAN™ technology can withstand operating temperatures even beyond 1000°C.
- Gas-tightness / hermeticity* – up to 10-11 mbar l/s.
- Hermetic cavity packages allow the implementation of tailored and controlled internal pressure environments.
- Hermeticity enables the required internal pressure to be maintained over an extremely long time period.
* Depending on product variant, technology and package design. Please contact us to discuss your individual requirements.
Customization
The design and specifications of SCHOTT’s sensor packages can vary greatly depending on the application in which they are used. Customization options include:
Dimensions*
- Wafer Level Chip Scale Packages offered by SCHOTT Primoceler™ enable ultra-miniature package sizes as small as 500 μm.
- Our harsh-environment sensor feedthroughs can be designed in an large variety of sizes – from tiny components of only 1.2 mm up to 600 mm in diameter.
- SCHOTT HermeS® Through Glass Via technology enables a via pitch of just 150 μm.
Electrical interfaces*
- I/Os or number of pins: from 1 to 100,000 (for WLCSP).
- High-current feedthroughs up to 200 Ampere.
- High-voltage feedthroughs up to 800V, e.g. in automotive applications.
- (Partial) coaxial (e.g. SMA, SMP, etc.) and high-frequency interfaces up to 80 Gbit/s.
- TECs, etc. available.
Optical interfaces*
- High-precision optical caps or lids: round, rectangular, individually-shaped glass windows, or convex (plano and biconvex) lenses.
- High-transmission glasses available for UV/VIS/IR.
- Coatings/filters, for example:
- Anti-reflection coatings to increase transmission
- Beam splitter coatings for defined back reflection
- Filter coatings to block certain wavelengths
Thermal conductivity*
- High-thermal conductivity materials, such as Cu-W, Mo, Al-Si, Mo-Cu available.
- Heat sink for dissipating heat loss from the active device TEC (thermoelectric cooler) design available.
* Depending on product variant, technology and package design. Please contact us to discuss your individual requirements.
Sensors are only as good as their individual components. Most sensor applications in everyday life are sealed with organic, non-hermetic polymer materials. These materials tend to become porous over time, especially in harsh environments. This means even small amounts of moisture or gas penetration could compromise the performance and reliability of sensitive encapsulated components, leading to:
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system failures
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the need for costly replacements
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potentially life-threatening situations for end-users
In contrast, glass-to-metal sealed components from SCHOTT are typically found in applications:
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where extreme operating conditions are present, such as high pressure, temperature, and chemical environments
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where superior optical precision is required, for example in optoelectronics
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that demand uncompromised reliability, for example automotive safety or medical uses
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that require exceptional longevity, for example in industrial or aerospace applications
SCHOTT offers a broad portfolio of hermetic packaging technologies that can be applied to meet even the most difficult sensor packaging requirements:
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Glass-to-Metal Sealing Technology (GTMS), including highly innovative SCHOTT GTAS® Glass-to-Aluminum Sealing, Glass-to-Titanium Sealing, and Glass-to-Copper Sealing
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SCHOTT Primoceler™ Glass Micro Bonding Technology for WLCSP, offered by SCHOTT Primoceler™ Oy
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SCHOTT HermeS® Hermetic Through-Glass Via Technology
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SCHOTT HEATAN™ Glass-Ceramic-to-Metal Sealing Technology
Our in-house development and manufacturing expertise covers all essential and quality-critical processes of the value chain:
Technical design support
You benefit from close technical development and consultation regarding packaging design, technology, and available selections of suitable material combinations depending on individual requirements.
Glasses and glass-ceramics
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Development, melting, and processing of standard and custom-made glasses, and glass-ceramics with specific properties.
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In-house expertise enables the development of exceptionally robust, high-quality glass-to-metal seals.
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All-glass hermetic WLCSP packaging is possible with SCHOTT Primoceler™ glass micro bonding technology and HermeS® Through Glass Via wafers.
Metal selection and processing
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Material options include standard metals, such as stainless steel and FeNi alloys, as well as specialty selections such as titanium, aluminum, copper-tungsten, and molybdenum.
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Metal components are available as stamped, milled, turned, deep-drawn, MIM, and precision-cast components depending on the application.
Electroplating / Coating
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Conventional nickel, nickel-gold and nickel-silver plating
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Custom plating processes
Simulations and quality testing
We can help make your designs a reality thanks to our broad line-up of available simulation tools, including CAD, Finite Element Analysis, EM field simulations, ray tracing, etc.
Dr.-Ing. Jens Suffner
Head of Strategic Business Field Automotive Sensors