Method for manufacturing vibration element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12199583-B2
Application number	US-202217679280-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2022
Priority date	Feb 25, 2021
Publication date	Jan 14, 2025
Grant date	Jan 14, 2025

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a vibration element includes: a first dry etching step of dry etching the quartz crystal substrate from a first surface and forming first grooves and contours of a first vibrating arm and a second vibrating arm on the first surface; and a second dry etching step of dry etching the quartz crystal substrate from a second surface side and forming second grooves and contours of the first vibrating arm and the second vibrating arm on the second surface, in which Wa/Aa<1 in at least one of the first and second dry etching steps, Wa is a depth of the first and second grooves formed in the first and second dry etching steps, and Aa is a depth of the contours formed in the first and second dry etching steps.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a vibration element including:
a base portion; and
a first vibrating arm and a second vibrating arm extending from the base portion along a first direction and arranged along a second direction intersecting the first direction,
the first vibrating arm and the second vibrating arm each including a first surface and a second surface arranged in a third direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction and on front and back sides, respectively, a bottomed first groove opened in the first surface, and a bottomed second groove opened in the second surface, the method comprising:
a preparing step of preparing a quartz crystal substrate having the first surface and the second surface;
a first protective film forming step of forming a first protective film on the first surface of the quartz crystal substrate, excluding first groove forming regions where the first grooves are formed and an inter-arm region located between a first vibrating arm forming region where the first vibrating arm is formed and a second vibrating arm forming region where the second vibrating arm is formed;
a first dry etching step of dry etching the quartz crystal substrate from a first surface side via the first protective film and forming the first grooves and contours of the first vibrating arm and the second vibrating arm on the first surface;
a second protective film forming step of forming a second protective film on the second surface of the quartz crystal substrate, excluding second groove forming regions where the second grooves are formed and the inter-arm region; and
a second dry etching step of dry etching the quartz crystal substrate from a second surface side via the second protective film and forming the second grooves and contours of the first vibrating arm and the second vibrating arm on the second surface, wherein
Wa/Aa<1 in at least one of the first dry etching step and the second dry etching step,
Wa is a depth of the first grooves formed in the first dry etching step and a depth of the second grooves formed in the second dry etching step, and
Aa is a depth of the contours formed in the first dry etching step and a depth of the contours formed in the second dry etching step.

2. The method for manufacturing the vibration element according to claim 1 , wherein
Wa/Aa≥0.2.

3. The method for manufacturing the vibration element according to claim 1 , wherein
y≥ −4.53×10 −6 x 4 +3.99×10 −4 x 3 −1.29×10 −3 x 2 +1.83×10 −1 x

W is a width of each of the first grooves and the second grooves along the second direction,
A is a width of the inter-arm region along the second direction,
W/A=x, and
Wa/Aa=y.

4. The method for manufacturing the vibration element according to claim 3 , wherein
y≤− 6.90×10 −10 x 4 +5.47×10 −7 x 3 −1.59×10 −4 x 2 +2.03×10 −2 x.

5. The method for manufacturing the vibration element according to claim 1 , wherein
in the first dry etching step and the second dry etching step, at least one of C 2 F 4 , C 2 F 6 , C 3 F 6 , and C 4 F 8 is used as a reaction gas.

6. The method for manufacturing the vibration element according to claim 1 , wherein
in the first dry etching step and the second dry etching step, at least one of CF 4 and SF 6 is used as a reaction gas.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Sakata Hiyori
• Kobayashi Takuro
• Nishizawa Ryuta
• Shiraishi Shigeru
• Yamaguchi Keiichi

Classifications

• H03H9/02157

  Dimensional parameters, e.g. ratio between two dimension parameters, length, width or thickness · CPC title

• H03H9/215

  consisting of quartz · CPC title

• H03H2003/026

  the resonators or networks being of the tuning fork type · CPC title

• H03H3/013 Primary

  for obtaining desired frequency or temperature coefficient ({H03H3/0076} H03H3/04, H03H3/10 take precedence) · CPC title

• H03H3/02 Primary

  for the manufacture of piezoelectric or electrostrictive resonators or networks (H03H3/08 takes precedence) · CPC title