JPH11327002A - Ultraminiature electronic device and camera including it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera constituted so that a microlens network can be precisely positioned on a photocell network by the plural sets of studs. SOLUTION: Three kinds of studs 12, 13 and 14 are formed at the surface of the photocell network. One stud 14 is formed so as to support the opposite surface of the microlens network formed to be like a thin plate to the lens forming surface thereof. The other studs 12 and 13 are formed so as to make two orthogonally crossed side surfaces of the thin plate abut on each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a microelectronic device comprising a plate containing at least one sensor and stop means extending from one surface of the plate to position a component complementary to the device. About the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Devices are known that can accurately position two complementary parts with respect to each other. For example, European Patent Application EP 0 566 943 describes a microelectronic device comprising a plate with an electrically active area including a sensing axis and a stopping means. In that example, the electrically active area functions as an accelerometer. The stopping means is formed by studs arranged on one of the surfaces of the plate. These allow the sensor to be arranged to control its orientation with respect to the support forming the complementary part.

[0003] Such a solution makes it possible to orient microelectronic devices and thereby avoid alignment operations using complex optical means.

In the device described above, the orientation is defined only in one direction, corresponding to the measuring axis of the accelerometer. This direction lies in a plane transverse to the surface on which the stud is located. Orientation is ensured by pressing at least two studs against the surface of a support component arranged for that purpose.

[0005] The present invention also relates to a camera in which the lens must very accurately focus light on a set of photoelectric sensors formed on a plate of semiconductor material.

[0006] Advances in integrated circuit fabrication techniques have significantly reduced the size of sensors. Therefore, in order to achieve such optical quality, the lens and sensor must have very precise positions with respect to each other. More specifically, the axis of the lens must be completely perpendicular to the surface of the sensor. This object could be achieved by using equipment requiring a large magnification and by using a fine operation device. The cost of such operations is high, which increases the price of such cameras.

This problem is particularly acute when the lens includes a microlens network located in front of the sensor. Such a net is used to focus light at the active site of the sensor. Each sensor must not only correspond to electronic components to process the data, but also to conductive elements to transmit such data to the control circuitry of the camera. By concentrating the light of the incident beam on each cell, it is possible to place at least certain electronic components in the immediate vicinity, so that the amount of light reaching each cell is thus detected without being reduced. Data can be processed.

In order to solve this problem, it has been proposed to manufacture the microlenses in a transparent material layer deposited directly on the sensor network. A device of this kind is described in European patent application EP0619614. With this solution, excellent relative positioning can be effectively ensured. Unfortunately, the manufacture of this microlens affects the quality of the sensor because the assembly formed by it must undergo thermal and chemical treatments during the manufacture of the microlens. This further limits the materials that can be used to form this microlens network. In addition, waste levels are higher.

[0009]

There are known fields of application which require not only the relative orientation of the microelectronic device and its support, but also the precise positioning of the microelectronic device and its corresponding complementary component. Have been. The solution described above cannot ensure such a positioning. The main objective of the present invention is to provide a solution to this problem.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera capable of adding a microlens network onto a sensor formed from a photovoltaic network while ensuring accurate relative positioning by simple and efficient means. To enable manufacturing.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides at least one
It is a micro device formed by a parallelepiped plate on which two sensors are arranged. The device comprises positioning means formed from a set of studs arranged on one of the surfaces of the plate to ensure positioning with respect to the complementary part. The surface of the plate is flat. The positioning means of the present invention includes a first set of studs for ensuring positioning along a first axis parallel to the plane, and a positioning along a second axis also parallel to the plane and orthogonal to the first axis. It includes a second set of studs for ensuring and a third set of studs for positioning along a third axis perpendicular to the plane.

As a result of these features, microdevices are
It is possible to accurately and efficiently locate the associated parts.

The present invention also relates to a camera comprising a device as defined above, wherein the sensor is an optoelectronic sensor, and a lens forming part,
It also relates to a camera characterized by having a lens arranged at the front of the surface and including at least one microlens network intended to focus light on it to activate the sensor.

[0014] Other advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent on reading the following detailed description of embodiments given by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The camera shown in FIG. 1 is a small digital camera incorporated in a conventional watch case 1,
Its upper part is sealed by a crystal glass 2 arranged on a dial 3 which can indicate the time of day and which can contain, for example, a viewfinder means formed by a matrix display cell 4. This camera, not shown in FIG. 1, includes shutter setting / release means, for example, located near the crown. The camera finally comprises a lens 5 arranged around the case 1 substantially between the 11 o'clock position and the 3 o'clock position. This lens includes a frame 6 for positioning the front lens 7 in the axial direction, an intermediate lens 17, and a back optics formed by a microlens network 27 formed on a transparent thin plate 20, as shown in a sectional view in FIG. And parts. The complementary member of the present invention is the thin plate 20 in the present embodiment. The lens is very accurately positioned along three axes on the surface 10a of the plate 10 formed from a semiconductor material on which the photovoltaic matrix network 11 forming the sensor is formed. The plate 10 is attached to the camera case 1 by the support 30.
Attached to. This lens 5 for the sensor network 11
Is achieved as a result of multiple sets of positioning studs or bumps 12, 13, 14, which will be described in more detail later in FIGS.

The assembly shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4
It includes a plate 10, a transparent thin plate 20, and a support 30.

The plate 10 is made of a semiconductor material and includes a photovoltaic matrix 11 in one central part of its surface.
This surface is further provided with reference numerals 12, 13, 14,
Four sets of studs designated by 15 are provided. Data generated from the photovoltaic cells can be transmitted and processed by the conductive paths and electronic components (not shown), respectively.

The set of studs designated 12,13,14 is intended to position the lamina 20. As will be specified below, the set of studs 15
It functions as a connection terminal for a conductive path for electrically connecting 0 and the support 30. Stud set 12, 13, 14 and stud set 15 are both deposited using masks by well known electrodeposition techniques. These are advantageously coated with gold, and are commonly referred to in microelectronics by the term "bump".

The first set 12 and the second set 13 are formed by two studs and one stud, respectively, and the heights H of the studs are all the same. The third set 14 has a height H
It is formed of three studs having a lower second height h. The fourth set 15 includes a larger number of studs as a function of the number of connection wires to be secured between the photovoltaic network 11 and the support 30. For clarity, stud set 15 is shown in FIG. 3 with only two studs. The height of the fourth set of studs may be equal to the height of the third set of studs.

A transparent thin plate 20 having a generally hexahedral shape
Is formed of a material selected for its optical properties. This can be made, for example, by molding from PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate). Thin plate 20
Has an upper surface 21, a lower surface 22, and four side surfaces designated by reference numerals 23 to 26. Arranged on the upper surface 21 is a matrix network 27 of converging microlenses having at least as many rows and columns as the photovoltaic network 11. The pitch of the rows and columns is the same for both nets.

The support 30 includes the plate 10 and other electronic components (not shown). This is the conductive path 31
including. These conductive paths are connected to the set of studs 15 by one end of each lead connected to a set 15 of studs and the other end to a set of studs 15 welded to the conductive path 31 one by one. The transmitted signal can be transmitted to the electronic processing circuit 33, which makes it possible to execute a viewfinder function in particular and to store the captured image.

A small drop of adhesive 28 acting as an adhesive means is placed on the periphery of sheet 20. This ensures that the thin plate 20 is fixed to the plate 10. These droplets 28
Are advantageously arranged at the four corners of the thin plate 20.

Alternatively, an adhesive layer (not shown) made of a transparent material ensures the connection between the plate 10 and the plate 20 while participating in the processing of the light beam by its optical properties. Can also.

As mentioned above, the first three sets of studs ensure the positioning of the lamella 20. More specifically, the lamina 20 is formed by the first set of studs 12
Positioning is performed along a first axis parallel to the zero plane, positioning is performed along a second axis orthogonal to the first axis by a second set of studs 13, and positioning is performed on a plane by a third stud 14. Positioning is performed along a third orthogonal axis.
More specifically, the thin plate 20 has its lower surface 22
4 resting on the three studs and pressing the ends of its surface 23 against the two studs of the first set 12,
The middle of the surface 24 orthogonal to 22 is pressed against the second set 13 of studs. Therefore, positioning is accurately performed along three axes, two axes parallel to the plane and one axis orthogonal to the plane.

Due to this particular configuration, the sheet 20 is
The positioning of each of the cells of the matrix network 11 and the lenses of the matrix network 27 facing is ensured, while avoiding operations that are completely oriented with respect to the sensor quality.

In the example described so far, the first set, the second set
While the number of sets, and the number of studs in the third set are minimal, those skilled in the art can design devices that include multiple studs in each set without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a camera in which the case of the camera is the case of a watch.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, showing the positioning device according to the present invention limited to a lens.

FIG. 3 includes a sensor formed by a photovoltaic network;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a device equipped with a thin plate on which a microlens network is arranged.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV, showing a portion of the assembly of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Watch case 2 Crystal glass 3 Dial 4 Matrix display cell 6 Frame 7 Front lens 10 Plate 17 Intermediate lens 20 Thin plate 27 Micro lens 30 Support

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A complementary component (2) formed of a hexahedral plate (10) on which at least one sensor (11) is formed.
0) to ensure positioning with respect to the plate (1).
An electronic device having a plurality of sets of studs disposed on one of the surfaces (10a) of (0), wherein said surface (10a) is planar. A first set of studs (12,13,14) ensuring positioning along a first axis parallel to the plane, and a second set of studs (12) also parallel to the plane and orthogonal to the first axis. A second set of studs (13) for ensuring positioning along two axes and a third set of studs (1) for positioning along a third axis orthogonal to the plane.
4) An electronic device comprising: 2. The height (h) of the studs forming the third set (14) is higher than the height (H) of the studs forming the first set (12) and the second set (13). The device of claim 1, wherein the device is low. 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the studs forming the first set (12) and the second set (13) have the same height (H). 4. An electronic signal processing circuit (33) comprising:
Device according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a fourth set (15) of studs allowing electrical connection to the studs. 5. The device is intended to be combined with a hexahedral shaped part (20) having three mutually orthogonal surfaces (22, 23, 24), each of the surfaces of the part being connected to the set (12). , 13,14), the first set (12) comprising two parts in which the component is arranged such that one end (23) of one of its surfaces rests against the side of the stud. A device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the device comprises: 6. A second set (13) comprising one stud arranged such that said part can rest on the side of said stud in the middle of another surface (24) perpendicular to said surface (23). The device of claim 5, comprising: 7. In a third set (14), the component comprises the surface (23) of the surfaces and the other surface (2).
Device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises at least three studs arranged such that a surface (22) perpendicular to 4) can rest on the end of the stud. 8. The sensor is formed of a photovoltaic network, and the complementary component includes at least one microlens network (27) located in front of the surface and for activating the battery. A camera comprising a device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it is a lens intended to focus light on them. 9. The microlens network (27) having a net structure defining the microlens network (27) and a flat surface placed on studs of the third set (14). A lower surface (22), a first lateral surface (23) resting in contact with the studs of the first set (12), and the second set (13) orthogonal to the first lateral surface (23); 9. A thin plate (20) formed of a transparent material, generally in the form of a hexahedron, having a second lateral surface (24) resting against said studs. The described camera. 10. The thin plate (20) is provided with the thin plate (2).
0) and the surrounding plate (10) at least locally by means of an adhesive material (28).
10. The camera according to claim 9, wherein the camera is securely fixed to the camera. 11. The camera according to claim 8, wherein the plate (10) and the sheet (20) are fixed by a single transparent material inserted between them.