Conformal thin film packaging for sic sensor circuits in harsh environments
In this investigation sputtered silicon carbide annealed at 300°C for one hour is used as a conformal thin film package. A RF magnetron sputterer was used to deposit 500 nm silicon carbide films on gold metal structures on alumina wafers. To determine the reliability and resistance to immersion in harsh environments, samples were submerged in gold etchant for 24 hours, in BOE for 24 hours, and in an O2 plasma etch for one hour. The adhesion strength of the thin film was measured by a pull test before and after the chemical immersion, which indicated that the film has an adhesion strength better than 108 N/m2; this is similar to the adhesion of the gold layer to the alumina wafer. MIM capacitors are used to determine the dielectric constant, which is dependent on the SiC anneal temperature. Finally, to demonstrate that the SiC, conformal, thin film may be used to package RF circuits and sensors, an LC resonator circuit was fabricated and tested with and without the conformal SiC thin film packaging. The results indicate that the SiC coating adds no appreciable degradation to the circuits RF performance.
A test microchip for evaluation of hermetic packaging technology for biomedical prosthetic implants
The development of a test chip that will be used to evaluate a hermetic and biocompatible package for the driving CMOS circuitry of a retinal prosthesis is described. The package design is estimated to be about 2 /spl times/ 2 /spl times/ 0.3 mm/sup 3/ and will be formed by conformal layers of parylene and a metal (e.g. titanium) as inner and outer protections, respectively. The test chip has been specifically designed for evaluation of the packaging technology. It consists of many blocks of analog and digital components as well as relative humidity and temperature sensors. The test chip has more probe points than a typical chip, allowing a more thorough evaluation of circuit behavior during the testing. This chip will first be coated in a layer of parylene C and soaked in heated isotonic saline for an extended period of time. Every block in the chip will then be tested for functionality using the surface probe points. The next step is to coat the surface of another test chip with parylene and a metal and repeat these soak tests. The results will then be analyzed and mean time-to-failure for the different samples will then be computed. Using the accelerated testing paradigm, these results will then be extrapolated to mean time-to-failure in the operating intraocular environment. Parylene test structures have already undergone an accelerated lifetime test and results have been analyzed.
The Female Face of God in Auschwitz: A Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust
Introduction 1. Reading Post-Holocaust Theology from a Feminist Perspective 2. The Hiding of God's Face in Auschwitz 3. Feminist Intimations of the Holy in Auschwitz 4. Face to Face (with God) in Auschwitz 5. A Mother/God in Auschwitz 6. The Redemption of God in Auschwitz 7. The Princess and the City of Death: A Feminist Maaseh, after Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. Notes. Select Glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish Terms