Thinned charge-coupled devices and method for making the same.

摘要

A standard thick silicon charge-coupled device has its pixel face mounted to a transparent, optically flat glass substrate (30) using a thin layer of thermoset epoxy (32). The backside silicon of the charge-coupled device is thinned to 10 +/-.5 mu m using a two-step chemi-mechanical process. The bulk silicon is thinned to 75 mu m with a 700 micro-grit aluminum oxide abrasive and is then thinned and polished to 10 mu m using 80 nm grit colloidal silica. Access from the backside to the aluminum bonding pads (36) of the device is achieved by photolithographic patterning and reactive ion etching of the silicon above the bonding pads. The charge-coupled device is then packaged and wire-bonded in a structure which offers support for the silicon membrane and allows for unobstructed backside illumination.