Monolithic lead assembly and methods of microfabricating a monolithic lead assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12106876-B2
Application number	US-201917277000-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2019
Priority date	Sep 18, 2018
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a monolithic thin-film lead assembly and methods of microfabricating a monolithic thin-film lead assembly. Particularly, aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a monolithic thin-film lead assembly that includes a cable having a proximal end, a distal end, a supporting structure that extends from the proximal end to the distal end, and a plurality of conductive traces formed on a portion of the supporting structure. The supporting structure includes one or more layers of dielectric material. The monolithic thin-film lead assembly may further include an electrode assembly formed on the supporting structure at the distal end of the cable. The electrode assembly includes one or more electrodes in electrical connection with one or more conductive traces of the plurality of conductive traces.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A monolithic thin-film cable assembly comprising:
a proximal end;
a distal end;
a supporting structure that extends from the proximal end to the distal end, wherein the supporting structure is comprised of one or more layers of dielectric material;
a plurality of conductive traces formed on a portion of the supporting structure; and
a housing,
wherein the portion of the supporting structure has a spiral shape comprising two or more turns having a pitch between each of the turns in a range of 10 μm to 1 cm, and
wherein the housing completely encases at least a portion of the supporting structure and the one or more conductive traces and partially encases an electrode assembly.

2. The monolithic thin-film cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of conductive traces extend from the proximal end to the distal end.

3. The monolithic thin-film cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material is polyimide, liquid crystal polymer, parylene, polyether ether ketone, or a combination thereof.

4. The monolithic thin-film cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of conductive traces are comprised of one or more layers of conductive material, and the conductive material is copper (Cu), gold (Au), silver (Ag), gold/chromium (Au/Cr), platinum (Pt), platinum/iridium (Pt/Ir), titanium (Ti), gold/titanium (Au/Ti), or any alloy thereof.

5. The monolithic thin-film cable assembly of claim 4 , wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion for the plurality of conductive traces is approximately equal to a coefficient of thermal expansion for the supporting structure.

6. The monolithic thin-film cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing is comprised of a thermoplastic polymer material.

7. The monolithic thin-film cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the supporting structure that has the spiral shape is wound in clockwise direction or anti-clockwise direction.

8. A method of manufacturing a monolithic thin-film cable assembly, the thin-film cable assembly comprising:
a proximal end;
a distal end;
a supporting structure that extends from the proximal end to the distal end, wherein the supporting structure is comprised of one or more layers of dielectric material;
a plurality of conductive traces formed on a portion of the supporting structure;

and
a housing,
wherein the portion of the supporting structure has a spiral shape comprising two or more turns having a pitch between each of the turns in a range of 10 μm to 1 cm, and
wherein the housing completely encases at least a portion of the supporting structure and the one or more conductive traces and partially encases an electrode assembly

the method comprising:
forming a first polymer layer on a wafer or panel of substrate;
forming a plurality of conductive traces on a first portion of the first polymer layer, wherein the forming the plurality of conductive traces comprises depositing a conductive material in a spiral pattern with two or more turns on the first portion of the first polymer layer;
forming a wiring layer on a second portion of the first polymer layer, wherein the forming the wiring layer comprises depositing the conductive material in electrical contact with the plurality of conductive traces;
depositing a second polymer layer on the wiring layer and the second portion of the first polymer layer;
forming at least one electrode on the second polymer layer such that the at least one electrode is in electrical contact with at least a portion of a top surface of the wiring layer; and
cutting the monolithic thin-film lead assembly from the first polymer layer, wherein the monolithic thin-film lead assembly comprises the plurality of conductive traces in the spiral pattern on the first polymer layer and the at least one electrode on the second polymer layer electrically connected to the plurality of conductive traces.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first polymer layer comprises one or more layers of dielectric material.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the dielectric material is polyimide, liquid crystal polymer, parylene, polyether ether ketone, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second polymer layer comprises one or more layers of dielectric material.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dielectric material is polyimide, liquid crystal polymer, parylene, polyether ether ketone, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising forming contact vias in the second polymer layer to the wiring layer, wherein the forming the at least one electrode comprises: depositing a conductive material in the contact via and on a top surface of the second polymer layer, and patterning the conductive material to form: (i) a first electrode over a first region of the second polymer layer such that the first electrode is in contact with a first portion of the top surface of the wiring layer, and (ii) a second electrode over a second region of the second polymer layer such that the second electrode is in contact with a second portion of the top surface of the wiring layer.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first region and the second region of the second polymer layer are separated from one another by a third region of the second polymer layer that does include at least a portion of the wiring layer but does not include an electrode.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising depositing the second polymer layer on the plurality of conductive traces and the first portion of the first polymer layer.

16. The method of claim 8 , further comprising detaching the monolithic thin-film lead assembly from the wafer or panel of substrate.

Assignees

• Verily Life Sciences Llc

Inventors

• Karicherla Annapurna
• Lu Bo
• Shah Kedar

Classifications

• H05K3/4682

  Manufacture of core-less build-up multilayer circuits on a temporary carrier or on a metal foil · CPC title

• H01B13/0013

  for embedding wires in plastic layers · CPC title

• H01B7/0869

  comprising one or more armouring, tensile- or compression-resistant elements · CPC title

• H01B7/0823

  Parallel wires, incorporated in a flat insulating profile · CPC title

• A61N1/36125

  Details of circuitry or electric components · CPC title