JPH1154016A - Micro relay - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a micro relay having a high withstand voltage and a large driving force. A base 11 made of a silicon wafer is provided.
A plate-shaped core 13 made of a conductive magnetic material laminated and integrated on the base 11; a pair of cores 14 and 15 made of a conductive magnetic material protruding from the plate-shaped core 13; Body 1
Spiral flat coils 20, 21 formed around the periphery of the core members 4, 15, respectively, and are supported so as to be drivable in the thickness direction via hinge portions 41, 42.
And a movable contact piece 43 that is opposed to the fixed contacts 34 and 35 located at the tips of the movable contacts 43.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a microrelay, and more particularly to a microrelay manufactured by a semiconductor process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a micro relay, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei.
There is an electrostatic relay described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4 (1999) -86. That is, a movable piece pivotally supported by a single-crystal semiconductor substrate disposed opposite to an electrically insulating substrate main surface via a spacer means and whose tip side is set to be rotationally displaceable toward the substrate main surface side. Formed from material. On the other hand, a movable contact layer is formed on the main surface of the substrate so as to face the movable piece and forms a driving counter electrode with the movable piece, and a movable contact layer is formed on the movable piece via an electrical insulating film. The fixed contact layer which is opened and closed by the layers is formed on the main surface of the substrate.

However, the electrostatic attraction is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. For this reason, in the aforementioned electrostatic relay, if the movable contact and the fixed contact are brought close to each other in order to obtain a large electrostatic attraction, a desired withstand voltage cannot be secured. On the other hand, if the distance between the movable contact and the fixed contact is increased in order to secure a desired withstand voltage, there is a problem that the electrostatic attraction decreases and the operating characteristics of the movable piece deteriorate.

[0004] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a micro relay having both a high withstand voltage and a large driving force.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a microrelay according to the present invention comprises: a base made of a semiconductor substrate; a plate-shaped core made of a conductive magnetic material laminated and integrated on the base; A core made of a conductive magnetic material protruding from the plate-shaped core, at least one spiral flat coil formed around the core, and can be driven in the thickness direction via a hinge. And a movable contact piece which is detachably opposed to the fixed contact located at the tip of the core body. In addition, a pair of cores may be protruded from the plate-shaped core.

[0006] A base made of a semiconductor substrate, a pair of plate-shaped cores made of a conductive magnetic material insulated from each other and integrated with the base, and projecting from the plate-shaped cores, respectively. A core body, at least one spiral flat coil formed around the core body, and supported so as to be drivable in a thickness direction via a hinge portion, and a pair of tips of the core body , And a movable contact piece that is detachably opposed to the fixed contact located at the position.

[0007] The flat coil may be a plurality of layers formed by alternately stacking and integrating insulating layers and spiral conductive layers.

[0008] The plate-shaped core may be laid and integrated in a recess formed on the upper surface of the base.

The movable contact piece may be supported by a pair of hinges, and the hinge may be bent in a crank shape.

[0010] The plate-shaped core body is formed from a back surface of the base.
While being laminated and integrated so as to protrude to the surface of the base through a through hole provided in the base, the core body,
It may be configured to protrude from an exposed surface of the plate-shaped core body exposed from the through hole.

A plurality of movable contact pieces may be arranged on the same plane, and may be electrically connected to form a matrix type microrelay capable of arbitrarily opening and closing a plurality of electric circuits.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of FIGS. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 10, the chip-shaped microrelay 10 is housed in a box-shaped ceramic package 50 and sealed with a ceramic cover 60.

As shown in FIG. 3, the microrelay 10 has a plate-like core 13 laminated and integrated with a base 11 and a pair of middle cores 14, 15 and an auxiliary yoke 16 protruding therefrom. Flat coils 20 and 21 are formed around the cores 14 and 15, respectively, and fixed contacts 34 and 35 are provided at the tips of the cores 14 and 15, respectively. Further, a movable contact piece 43 is opposed to the fixed contacts 34 and 35 via a pair of hinge springs 41 and 42 so as to be able to come and go.

The box-shaped ceramic package 50 has connecting step portions 51 and 52 at opposite corners on the bottom surface. Then, lead terminal connection pads 53, 54, 55, 56 are provided on the surface of the step portion 51 at a predetermined pitch. The outer ends of the lead terminals extend to the bottom surface of the ceramic package 50 so that they can be surface-mounted on a printed board (not shown). Further, the ceramic package 50 can be hermetically sealed with a ceramic cover 60 through an annular ridge 57 provided at an opening edge of the ceramic package 50 via a sealant.

Next, a method of manufacturing the micro relay 10 will be described. Usually, a plurality of micro relays are simultaneously formed on a silicon wafer, but for convenience of explanation, a case where one micro relay is manufactured will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, a silicon wafer serving as a base 11 is etched to form a recess 12 (FIG. 4B), and then the conductive magnetic material is formed in the recess 12 by electroless plating. Is formed, and its surface is polished and flattened (FIG. 4C). Then, a pair of flat coils 20 and 21 are formed on the surface of the plate-shaped core 13.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the flat coils 20 and 21, an insulating layer 22 is formed on the surface of the plate-shaped core 13, and then a spiral conductive layer 23 is formed. Further, the conductive layer 23 is covered with an insulating layer 24 except for both ends. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, one end 23a of the exposed spiral conductive layer 23 is connected to the end 2a of another spiral conductive layer 25.
The electrical connection is made by forming the layers 5a in an overlapping manner. Thereafter, the flat coils 20 and 21 are completed by forming the insulating layer 26, the spiral conductive layer 27, and the insulating layer 28 in the same semiconductor process. However, the adjacent flat coils 20 and 21 are formed so as to be electrically connected to each other and generate a magnetic flux in the opposite direction.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Core 1 made of conductive magnetic material by electroplating on the surface of
4 and 15 and the auxiliary yoke 16 (FIG. 5)
(A)). After the insulating layer 30 is formed except for a predetermined portion, connection pads 31a and 31b for fixed contacts and connection pads 32a and 32b for flat coils for wire bonding are formed (FIGS. 5B and 9). ).
Next, an insulating layer 33 is formed (FIG. 5C).

Then, fixed contacts 34 and 35 are formed by plating a conductive material on the tips of the cores 14 and 15 (FIG. 6).
(A), FIG. 10). Further, movable contact connection pads 36a and 36b are formed on the insulating layer 33. Next, a spacer portion forming electrode 37 is formed, and the thick spacer portion 38 is formed.
Is formed by plating, and a resin material is coated to form a sacrificial layer 39 (FIG. 6B). The auxiliary yoke 4 is provided on the surfaces of the spacers 38 and the sacrificial layer 39.
After forming the conductive layers to be the 0 and the pair of hinge portions 41 and 42 and the movable contact piece 43, the sacrificial layer 39 is removed and the pair of hinge portions 41 and 42 and the movable contact piece 43 are formed.
To form Finally, the bases 11 made of a silicon wafer are individually cut off by dicing, and the chip-shaped micro relay 10 is completed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the micro relay 10 is housed and fixed in a box-shaped ceramic package 50, and then the connection pads 32a, 3
1a, 32b, 36b and the connection pads 53, 54, 55, 56 of the ceramic package 50 are electrically connected by wire bonding, respectively. Further, the assembly operation is completed by sealing the ceramic cover 60 to the annular protrusion 57 of the ceramic package 50 via a sealant.

Next, the operation of the micro relay 10 having the above configuration will be described. First, flat coil 2
When no voltage is applied to 0 and 21 and the magnets are not excited, the movable contact piece 43 is separated from the fixed contacts 34 and 35 by the spring force of the hinge portions 41 and 42. And
When a voltage is applied to the flat coils 20 and 21 via the connection pads 32a and 32b to excite them, magnetic fluxes in opposite directions are generated, and the core 14, the fixed contact 34, the movable contact piece 43, the fixed contact 35, The magnetic circuit is closed via the middle core 15 and the plate-shaped core 13. For this reason, the hinge portion 41,
The movable contact piece 43 is fixed against the spring force of the fixed contact 34,
It is sucked and absorbed by 35. As a result, the connection pad 31
a, auxiliary yoke 16, plate-shaped core 13, medium core 14, 1
5, fixed contacts 34, 35, movable contact piece 43, hinge part 4
1, 42, spacer 38, connection pad 36b for movable contact
The electric circuit is closed via. Next, when the application of the voltage to the flat coils 20 and 21 is stopped and the excitation is released, the movable contact piece 43 returns to the original state by the spring force of the hinge portions 41 and 42.

According to this embodiment, the flat coil 2
The magnetic flux generated at 0 and 21 does not leak, and all the magnetic force can be used for driving the movable contact piece 43. For this reason, there is an advantage that the microrelay 10 having high magnetic efficiency and energy saving can be obtained.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a chip-shaped micro relay 10 having one fixed contact 34 is used.
This is the case when applied to. Then, the chip-shaped micro relay 10 is housed in a box-shaped ceramic package 50,
It is sealed with a ceramic cover 60. That is, as shown in FIG.
A core 14 protrudes from the center of the plate-shaped core 13 laminated and integrated. The core 14 has a flat coil 20 and an auxiliary yoke 16 formed around it, and a fixed contact 34 is provided at the tip. Further, a movable contact piece 43 is opposed to the fixed contact 34 via a pair of hinge springs 41 and 42 so as to be able to contact and separate therefrom.

In the present embodiment, the connection pads 3 for fixed contacts are used.
1 on both sides of flat coil connection pads 32a, 32b
Are further provided, and connection pads 36a and 36b for movable contact pieces are provided on both sides thereof. On the other hand, the connection pads 31, 32a, 32
b, 36a and 36b are provided. This is to eliminate the directionality in the connection work and to improve the work efficiency.

As in the first embodiment, the box-shaped ceramic package 50 has connection step portions 51 (not shown) and 52 at opposite corners of the bottom surface. On the surfaces of the steps 51 and 52, connection pads 53 and 54 for lead terminals are provided at a predetermined pitch, respectively. The outer ends of the lead terminals extend to the bottom surface of the ceramic package 50 so that they can be surface-mounted on a printed board (not shown). Further, the ceramic package 50
Can be hermetically sealed with a ceramic cover 60 via a sealant on an annular ridge 57 provided at the opening edge.
The method for manufacturing the microrelay 10 according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will not be repeated.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. First, when no voltage is applied to the flat coil 20 and the flat coil 20 is not excited, the movable contact piece 43 is separated from the fixed contact 34 by the spring force of the hinge portions 41 and 42. When a voltage is applied to the flat coil 20 through the connection pads 32a and 32b to excite it, a magnetic flux is generated, and the core 14, the fixed contact 34, the movable contact piece 43,
Hinge portions 41 and 42, auxiliary yoke 40, spacer 38,
The magnetic circuit is closed via the auxiliary yoke 16 and the plate-shaped core 13. Therefore, the movable contact piece 43 is attracted to the fixed contact 34 and is attracted by the spring force of the hinge portions 41 and 42. As a result, the connection pad 31, the auxiliary yoke 1
6. The electric circuit is closed via the plate-shaped core 13, the core 14, the fixed contact 34, the movable contact piece 43, the hinge portions 41 and 42, the auxiliary yoke 40, the spacer 38, and the movable contact connection pad 36b. You. Next, when the application of the voltage to the flat coils 20 and 21 is stopped and the excitation is released, the hinge 4
The movable contact piece 43 returns to the original state by the spring force of 1, 42.

In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, a plate-shaped core is formed by performing a semiconductor process on the back surface of a semiconductor substrate. That is, the etching masks 71 and 72 are formed on the front and back surfaces of the single crystal silicon wafer serving as the base 11.
Is formed and deep etching is performed to form a through hole 73 (FIG. 13C). Then, the etching mask is removed to form a thermal oxide film (not shown) on the entire surface, and a metal is deposited to form a plating base 74 (FIG. 13).
(D)). Next, after the conductive magnetic material is plated to form the first layered core body 75, the conductive magnetic material protruding from the base 11 is polished to a level (FIG. 13E,
(F)). Further, after the flat coil 20 is formed by the same semiconductor process as in the above-described embodiment, a conductive magnetic material is plated to form the second layered core 76 and the intermediate core 77 (FIGS. 13 (g) and (g). h)). Finally, the surface of the flat coil 20 is covered with a lift-off resin film 78, and the distal end of the core 77 is plated with gold to form a fixed contact 79. Then, the resin film 78 is removed and the coil contact plate 80 is removed. Is completed (FIG. 13 (i)).

According to this embodiment, the first and second semiconductor substrates are provided.
The second layered cores 75, 76, the core 77, and the flat coil 20 can be integrally formed only by a semiconductor process. For this reason, not only the number of parts and the number of production steps are reduced, but also a relay with high assembling accuracy can be obtained. In addition, according to this embodiment, the case where the plate-shaped core is constituted by the first and second layered cores has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and may have a single-layer structure.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the plate-shaped core and the core are separately formed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a conductive magnetic material is plated on a silicon wafer to a large thickness. After that, etching may be performed to remove unnecessary portions, and the plate-shaped core and the core may be cut out at the same time.

In the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, a matrix relay is formed by combining four micro relays 10 according to the second embodiment. According to the present embodiment, 4 layers formed from a continuous conductive thin film are used.
The movable contact pieces 43 are formed so as to be driven independently. Therefore, the predetermined coil terminal 32
A desired electric circuit can be arbitrarily opened and closed by applying a voltage to a and 32b to excite the flat coil 20.
According to this embodiment, 4 according to the second embodiment is used.
Although a case has been described in which a plurality of micro relays are combined, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. For example, a plurality of the same or different micro relays according to other embodiments may be combined.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the movable contact piece can be driven by utilizing the electromagnetic force generated in the flat coil. For this reason, a larger driving force can be obtained than in the conventional electrostatic relay. As a result, the distance between the fixed contact and the movable contact piece can be increased, and the pressure resistance is improved. Further, since all the steps can be processed by a semiconductor process, an extremely small micro relay can be obtained. According to the second aspect of the present invention, a magnetic circuit can be formed via a pair of cores projecting from the plate-shaped core. For this reason, without leaking the magnetic flux generated in the flat coil,
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a microrelay with high magnetic efficiency which can be used in all cases can be obtained, a pair of fixed contacts are insulated from each other, and a movable contact piece can be brought into contact with them to close an electric circuit. . Therefore, the distance between the fixed contact and the movable contact piece is substantially doubled, and a micro-relay with high withstand voltage can be obtained. According to the invention of claim 4, since a multilayer spiral flat coil can be obtained, a small-sized microrelay having a large electromagnetic force can be obtained. Claim 5
According to the microrelay, since the plate-shaped core is embedded in the base, a thinner microrelay can be obtained. According to the invention of claim 6, the movable contact is supported by the pair of hinge portions. For this reason, the support balance of the movable contact is improved, and a microrelay with less contact per side is obtained. According to the micro relay of claim 7, the distance between the fulcrum points of the hinge portion is substantially increased. For this reason, the distance between the contacts becomes long, and the movable contact piece can be driven with a small driving force, so that a micro relay having good response characteristics can be obtained. According to the microrelay of the eighth aspect, since the plate-shaped core and the core can be formed from the front and back surfaces of the base, the degree of freedom of manufacturing is expanded and the manufacturing is facilitated. According to the micro relay of the ninth aspect, there is an effect that a plurality of electric circuits can be arbitrarily opened and closed, and a matrix type micro relay can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of a micro relay according to the present invention.

2A and 2B show the microrelay shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a circuit diagram.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the micro relay shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a manufacturing process of the micro relay shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a manufacturing process of the micro relay shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a manufacturing process of the micro relay shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an end view for explaining the manufacturing process of the flat coil according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially broken perspective view showing the flat coil according to the first embodiment.

9 shows an intermediate product of the micro relay shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 9 (a) is a perspective view and FIG. 9 (b) is a sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an intermediate product of the micro relay shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a partially broken perspective view of the micro relay shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a manufacturing process of the micro relay according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a microrelay according to the fourth embodiment, in which FIG. 14 (a) is a plan view and FIG. 14 (b) is a circuit diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 micro relay, 11 base, 12 recess, 1
3 ... plate-shaped core, 14, 15 ... core, 16 ... auxiliary yoke, 20, 21 ... flat coil, 31a, 31b ... fixed contact connection pad, 32a, 32b ... flat coil connection pad, 34, 35 ... Fixed contacts, 36a and 36b
... Connecting pads for movable contacts, 41, 42 ... Hinges, 43
... movable contact piece, 50 ... box-shaped ceramic package, 60
... ceramic cover, 75, 76 ... first and second layered cores, 77 ... middle core, 79 ... fixed contacts.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A base made of a semiconductor substrate, a plate-shaped core made of a conductive magnetic material laminated and integrated on the base,
A core made of a conductive magnetic material protruding from the plate-shaped core, at least one spiral flat coil formed around the core, and can be driven in the thickness direction via a hinge. And a movable contact piece that is supported by the movable contact member and that is detachably opposed to the fixed contact located at the tip of the core body. 2. The microrelay according to claim 1, wherein a pair of middle cores protrude from the plate-shaped core. 3. A base made of a semiconductor substrate, a pair of plate-shaped cores made of a conductive magnetic material which are insulated from each other and integrated with the base, and projecting from the plate-shaped cores, respectively. The provided core, and at least one spiral flat coil formed around the core, respectively, are supported so as to be drivable in the thickness direction via a hinge portion, and
A micro relay, comprising: a movable contact piece which is detachably opposed to a fixed contact located at a tip of the pair of core bodies. 4. The micro relay according to claim 1, wherein the flat coil is a plurality of layers formed by alternately stacking and integrating insulating layers and spiral conductive layers. 5. The microrelay according to claim 1, wherein the plate-shaped core is laminated and integrated in a recess formed on an upper surface of the base. 6. The micro relay according to claim 1, wherein the movable contact piece is supported by a pair of hinge portions. 7. The micro relay according to claim 1, wherein the hinge portion is bent in a crank shape. 8. The plate-shaped core body is laminated and integrated so as to protrude from the back surface of the base to the front surface of the base via a through hole provided in the base, and the core body is provided with The microrelay according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the microrelay is protruded from an exposed surface of the plate-shaped core body exposed from the through hole. 9. A method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said movable contact pieces are arranged on the same plane, and are electrically connected to open and close a plurality of electric circuits arbitrarily. Micro relay as described.