HERMETICALLY SEALED GLASS ENCLOSURE

Abstract

A hermetically sealed package includes: a heat-dissipating base substrate configured for dissipating heat from the hermetically sealed package; a cap arranged on the heat-dissipating base substrate, the cap and the heat-dissipating base substrate jointly forming at least a part of the package; at least one functional area hermetically sealed by the package; at least one laser bonding line configured for hermetically sealing the package, the laser bonding line having a height perpendicular to a bonding plane of the laser bonding line.

Claims

1. A hermetically sealed package, comprising: a heat-dissipating base substrate configured for dissipating heat from the hermetically sealed package; a cap arranged on the heat-dissipating base substrate, the cap and the heat-dissipating base substrate jointly forming at least a part of the package, the cap at least partially defining at least one functional area hermetically sealed by the package; and at least one laser bonding line configured for hermetically sealing the package, the laser bonding line being associated with at least one of the cap and the heat-dissipating substrate and having a height perpendicular to a bonding plane of the laser bonding line.

2. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the heat-dissipating base substrate is made of a material having a thermal conductivity that is high; and a thermal conductivity of the heat-dissipating base substrate is one of at least 100 W/(m*K), at least 150 W/(m*K), and at least 170 W/(m*K).

3. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the cap comprises a vitreous material, which is one of a glass, a glass ceramic, a silicon, a sapphire, and a combination thereof; and the heat-dissipating base substrate comprises a metallic nitride, which is an aluminum nitride ceramic.

4. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein the at least one laser bonding line circumferentially surrounds the at least one functional area at a distance therefrom.

5. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the cap is joined to the heat-dissipating base substrate by the at least one laser bonding line; and the cap and the heat-dissipating base substrate jointly and completely form the hermetically sealed package.

6. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein the hermetically sealed package is configured for accommodating at least one accommodation item which is one of an electronic circuit, an electronic circuit device, a sensor, and a micro-electromechanical system, wherein at least one of: the at least one functional area is adapted to accommodate the at least one accommodation item; and the at least one accommodation item is arranged on the heat-dissipating base substrate and inside the hermetically sealed package.

7. The hermetically sealed package of claim 6, wherein the at least one functional area is formed as a cavity, the at least one accommodation item comprising a power semiconductor chip, which is selected from the group consisting of a GaN light-emitting diode, a SiC power transistor, a GaAs power transistor, and a GaN power transistor, the power semiconductor chip being arranged inside the cavity.

8. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the cap is welded to the heat-dissipating base substrate at room temperature during a welding process, and wherein only a negligible amount of heat enters the at least one functional area due to the welding process; and an amount of heat generated by the welding process is kept away from the at least one functional area by the heat-dissipating base substrate.

9. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein the at least one laser bonding line extends into a material of the cap over the height and on an opposite side of the at least one laser bonding line extends into a material of the heat-dissipating base substrate; and wherein the heat-dissipating base substrate and the cap are fused to one another.

10. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, further comprising an intermediate substrate which is arranged between the heat-dissipating base substrate and the cap, wherein the heat-dissipating base substrate is joined to the intermediate substrate in a first bonding plane, and the cap is joined to the intermediate substrate in a second bonding plane.

11. The hermetically sealed package of claim 10, wherein a marker is incorporated in at least one of the heat-dissipating base substrate, the intermediate substrate, and the cap.

12. The hermetically sealed package of claim 10, wherein the at least one functional area is formed as an accommodation cavity, wherein at least one of: the cap defines an upper side and a laterally circumferential edge of the at least one functional area, and the heat-dissipating base substrate defines a bottom of the at least one functional area, which together completely enclose the accommodation cavity; the cap defines an upper side of the at least one functional area, and the heat-dissipating base substrate defines a laterally circumferential edge and a bottom of the at least one functional area, which together completely enclose the accommodation cavity; and the cap defines an upper side of the at least one functional area, the intermediate substrate defines a laterally circumferential edge of the at least one functional area, and the heat-dissipating base substrate defines a bottom of the at least one functional area, which together completely enclose the accommodation cavity.

13. The hermetically sealed package of claim 12, wherein the hermetically sealed package formed by at least one of a laterally circumferential edge, a bottom, and an upper side is at least partially transparent for a wavelength range.

14. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein at least one of the heat-dissipating base substrate and the cap has a thickness of one of less than 500 μm, less than 300 μm, less than 120 μm, and less than 80 μm.

15. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein the heat-dissipating base substrate defines a bottom of the at least one functional area, wherein the heat-dissipating base substrate has at least a first and a second contact, and wherein the first contact is disposed on the bottom of one of the functional area and a cavity which the at least one functional area forms.

16. The hermetically sealed package according claim 15, wherein the second contact is (a) disposed outside the bottom of one of the functional area and the cavity and (b) electrically connected to the first contact.

17. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein at least one of: wherein the hermetically sealed package has a size of one of no more than 10 mm×10 mm, no more than 5 mm×5 mm, no more than 2 mm×2 mm, and no more than 0.2 mm×0.2 mm; wherein the cap has a height of no more than 2 mm; and wherein a skirt of the cap has a height of no more than 2 mm.

18. The hermetically sealed package of claim 1, wherein the hermetically sealed package is produced by a method which includes the steps of: providing that the cap is transparent at least in some portions thereof for at least one wavelength range and therefore is a transparent cap, the at least one functional area including a hermetically sealed accommodation cavity enclosed in the hermetically sealed package, the at least one functional area being surrounded by a laterally circumferential edge, a bottom, and an upper side of the hermetically sealed package, the accommodation cavity being configured for accommodating an accommodation item; arranging at least one of the accommodation item on the bottom of the accommodation cavity; arranging the cap on the heat-dissipating base substrate above the accommodation item and thereby creating at least one contact area between the heat-dissipating base substrate and the cap so that the hermetically sealed package has at least one of the contact area; and hermetically sealing the accommodation cavity by forming a laser bonding line along the at least one contact area of the hermetically sealed package.

19. The hermetically sealed package of claim 18, wherein the hermetically sealed package is configured for being used as one of a medical implant, a sensor, and a barometer.

20. A method for providing a hermetically sealed package, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one of the hermetically sealed package, the hermetically sealed package including a heat-dissipating base substrate and at least one cap, the at least one cap being transparent at least in some portions thereof for at least one wavelength range and therefore being a transparent cap, the hermetically sealed package enclosing a functional area including a cavity, the functional area being surrounded by a laterally circumferential edge, a bottom, and an upper side of the hermetically sealed package, the cavity being an accommodation cavity which is configured for accommodating an accommodation item; arranging at least one of the accommodation item on the bottom of the accommodation cavity; arranging the at least one cap on the heat-dissipating base substrate above the accommodation item and thereby creating at least one contact area between the heat-dissipating base substrate and the at least one cap so that each one of the hermetically sealed package has at least one of the contact area; and hermetically sealing each one of the accommodation cavity by forming a laser bonding line along the at least one contact area of each one of the hermetically sealed package.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one cap comprises a skirt and a top portion, so that the top portion of the at least one cap defines the upper side and the skirt defines at least a part of the laterally circumferential edge of the accommodation cavity; and wherein the at least one contact area is defined on an end face of the skirt.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein a laser beam is directed around the functional area to form the laser bonding line so that the functional area is hermetically sealed circumferentially along the at least one contact area; wherein at least one of (a) the laser beam is directed circumferentially around multiple times and (b) a plurality of laser bonding lines are formed.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein a plurality of the bottom are defined on the heat-dissipating base substrate for a plurality of the accommodation cavity to be provided; and wherein a plurality of the at least one cap are applied to the heat-dissipating base substrate to form a plurality of the hermetically sealed package with respect to the heat-dissipating base substrate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0066] The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0067] FIG. 1a is a view of the opened accommodation cavity from above;

[0068] FIG. 1b is a perspective view of a sealed package;

[0069] FIG. 1c shows an alternative open package;

[0070] FIG. 1d is a sectional view through the welding zone;

[0071] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a package on a base substrate;

[0072] FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line A-B of an embodiment of a package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0073] FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line C-D of another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0074] FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line A-B of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0075] FIG. 6 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0076] FIG. 7 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0077] FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0078] FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0079] FIG. 10 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0080] FIG. 11 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0081] FIG. 12 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2;

[0082] FIG. 13 is a sectional view along line C-D of yet another embodiment of the package as shown in FIG. 2; and

[0083] FIG. 14 shows steps of a method for producing a package.

[0084] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0085] FIG. 1a shows the accommodation item 2 to be protected, introduced in a base substrate 3 such as a wafer or a printed circuit board, in particular one made of aluminum nitride. Functional area 13 is in the form of a recess in the base substrate 3, as made by an abrasive process such as a sandblasting process, for example. In other words, the base substrate 3 has a recess 13 in which the accommodation item 2 is placed. So, base substrate 3 includes a portion 3a which defines the bottom 22 of package 1. In other words, the package 1 is formed with a portion of the substrate 3 as the bottom 22 (see FIG. 6), and the package 1 is firmly connected, in particular joined, to the substrate 3. A cap 5 is shown, which is intended for covering the accommodation item 2. Cap 5 may be a glass plate, for example, which is placed on the recess 13 in the base substrate 3. Thus, the components 3 and 5 jointly define the package 1 around accommodation item 2 which is arranged in the functional area 13, here a cavity 12 (see FIG. 1c), when the package 1 is closed. In other words, when the cap 5 is placed on the base substrate 3 in the example of FIG. 1a, a closed accommodation cavity 12 is formed, which will have to be hermetically sealed in a subsequent step.

[0086] FIG. 1b shows the created hermetically sealed package 1 which was joined by a laser welding process. The package includes the cap 5 stacked on top of the base substrate 3, thereby forming a contact area 25 between cap 5 and substrate 3, along which a laser bonding line 8 has been introduced.

[0087] FIG. 1c shows a further embodiment of the package 1, in which the cap 5 includes a top portion 5b and a circumferential skirt 5a. Cap 5 is placed on the substrate 3, with the contact area on the end face of circumferential skirt 5a, specifically in the area of the underside 3a of the package 1, which will then form the bottom 22 (see FIG. 6) of the cavity 12 when the package 1 is completed.

[0088] FIG. 1d shows a detail of the joining area, clearly illustrating the interface zone, i.e. the contact area 25 and the laser welding zone 8. Laser welding zone 8 is located in contact area 25.

[0089] FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a package 1 according to the invention, with the circumferential laser welding zone 8 surrounding the functional area 13. Functional area 13 may be implemented in different ways. Exemplary embodiments of functional area 13 as well as for other options of a package can be seen in FIGS. 3 through 13. The various designs of functional area 13 can all be schematically illustrated as in FIG. 2, as they will be similar in such a plan view. Lines A-B and C-D indicate section lines along which the sectional views of FIGS. 3 to 13 are reproduced.

[0090] The functional area may implement various tasks, for example it may include an optical receiver or a technical, electro-mechanical, and/or electronic component which is disposed in the functional area 13. It is also possible to implement a plurality of such tasks in the functional area 13. On the upper side, the package 1 is covered by upper substrate 5 or cap 5. The laser welding zone 8 extends into this upper substrate 5.

[0091] Referring to FIG. 3 which shows a first sectional view of a first embodiment of a package 1, which includes a base substrate 3 and a flat cap 5 in the form of a cover substrate 5. In other words, package 1 is made of or composed of two layers, namely base layer 3 and cover layer 5. FIG. 3 also shows the structure of laser welding line 8 in the form of a string of multiple laser pulse impact areas 16 which are placed so close to one another that the material of the base substrate 3 and of the cover substrate 5 seamlessly fuses to one another thereby hermetically sealing the functional area 13 or the cavity 12.

[0092] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of an embodiment of a package 1 along line C-D as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 furthermore shows a section through the functional area 13, 13a which extends inside the package 1, for example in the form of a continuous hollow space or cavity. In other words, the cavity extends from base substrate 3 into the cover substrate 5 and, for example, is in the form of a recess made in the base substrate 3 and/or in the cap 5. For example, the functional area 13a may also include an active layer such as an electrically conductive layer, and the functional area 13 includes the cavity. The laser welding zone 8 provided circumferentially around the functional area 13, 13a seals the functional area 13, 13a all around along the lateral sides thereof. It is conceivable to leave gaps in the laser welding zone 8 so that the functional area 13, 13a will not be sealed all around, for example in order to keep open a communication channel or space for an electrical connection, which may however also be used to establish fluid communication with the environment, for example. In other words, it might be contemplated to not seal predefined locations or points using the focused laser beam 9, but to rather achieve a hermetic seal by other means there, such as by an adhesive. Optionally, the functional area 13, 13a is sealed along all of its sides and without any gaps.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 5 which shows a further embodiment in which incident laser pulses 16 create the laser welding zone 8 where the cover substrate 5 is welded or joined to the base substrate 3 along contact area 25. This embodiment has the further special feature to have the surfaces of the first substrate 3 and of the second substrate 5 toughened all around, that is to have toughened layers 27, 28, and 29. For example, the cap 5 can be dipped into a toughening bath with its upper side before being bonded to the base substrate 3, or else after having been bonded to the base substrate 3, so that the finished package 1 will be chemically toughened, i.e. will have at least one toughened surface 27 and/or has at least one toughened layer. In other words, the finished package 1 is toughened at least in sections thereof or at least partially, in particular chemically toughened. With the chemical toughening, a compressive stress is established on the cover substrate 5.

[0094] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the package 1 is toughened on all outer surfaces, i.e. both the two opposite major surfaces have toughened layers 27 and 29, and the circumferential edge 14 of the package has a toughened layer 28, the circumferential edge 14 extending circumferentially around the package 1. In other words, in the case of a cuboid package, all four narrow sides that are found on a cuboid jointly form the edge 14. The edge 14 can also be understood or referred to as an edge 21 of the package, which extends around the cavity. A package 1 as shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained, for example, by immersing the finally welded package including the cap 5 and the base substrate 3 in a toughening solution and in particular chemically toughening it there. The toughened layers 27, 28, 29 are thus disposed directly at the outer surfaces of the package 1. Thus, inwards of the toughened layers 27, 28, 29 there remains an area for the welding line 8 which is possibly introduced with a spacing to the toughened layers 27, 28, 29.

[0095] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the package 1 comprising a cap 5 having a skirt 5a placed on the base substrate 3. The view of FIG. 6 may correspond to a section along line C-D as shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the functional area 12, 13, 13a is designed so as to be provided on the base substrate 3 and to extend into the cap 5. Welding line 8 is provided around the cavity 12 so that the cavity 12 is hermetically sealed on all sides thereof. Cap 5 may be round or square and may in principle be of any free shape.

[0096] The accommodation item 2, for example a sensor or actuator, is arranged on the bottom 22 of cavity 12, for example glued thereto. Metallic pads 32, 32a for making electrical contact with the accommodation item 2 are provided on either side of the accommodation item. Contacting wires 36, 36a such as bond wires, for example, electrically connect the accommodation item 2 with the contact points 32, 32a. The contact points 32, 32a may be metallic contact areas. Connectors 35, 35a establish an electrical connection to second contacts 34, 34a that are arranged outside cavity 12, so that the accommodation item on base substrate 3 such as a printed circuit board 3 can be contacted from outside. In the present example, the second contacts 34, 34a are arranged on the underside or lower surface of the base substrate 3, thereby allowing the size of the individual package 1 to be kept small. It has to be ensured that the contacting wires 36, 36a are hermetically sealed, for example by applying the second contacts 34, 34a directly on the connectors 35, 35a. The cap 5 is directly joined to the base substrate 3 by laser bonding lines 8. In the present case, two closed circumferential laser welding zones 8 were formed by directing the laser 9 twice around the cavity along contact area 25 or along the outer edges of cap 5, but not on an exactly identical path. Rather, with each revolution around the cavity 12 the laser 9 was directed along a laterally offset path so that two laser welding zones 8 are created next to one another. For example, the micro-welding zones 8 in the present example have dimensions of 5 μm×10 μm or 10 μm×50 μm.

[0097] For example, AF45 may be used as the material for the cap 5. The base substrate 3 may include an AlN ceramic of single-layer design. This is advantageous if cost-efficient fabrication is desired, for example for power semiconductors or for LEDs. The characteristic value of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the two in particular different materials of the cap 5 and the base substrate 3 can be selected so as to be matched to one another between the layers. For example, the CTEs may be similar or even identical, in order to have little or no thermal stress at all in the package 1. The CTEs of AF45 and AlN match surprisingly well for the desired application; hardly any thermal stress was determined on the package 1. Si.sub.3N.sub.4 may also be employed as the material for the base substrate. A special feature of the package 1 according to the invention is that the substrate 3 is a highly thermally conductive material, in the embodiments of FIGS. 6-9 and 13 in the form of a single-layer ceramic, in the embodiments of FIGS. 10-12 in the form of a multi-layer ceramic.

[0098] FIG. 7 shows a further embodiment of a package 1 along section line C-D, and in this example, again, the functional area 13 or cavity 12 is provided inside the cap 5. In this example, the accommodation item 2, such as a high power LED, has an upper side contact area and a lower side contact area. Thus, the accommodation item 2 is arranged on contact 32a and is directly electrically connected thereto. A second electrical connection is established between contact 32 and the upper side of accommodation item 2 via contacting wire 36. Cap 5 is fused and hermetically sealed to the base substrate 3 by bonding lines 8. In all embodiments, the same reference numerals denote the same features in the figures.

[0099] The joint along bonding line 8 was optionally introduced into relaxed, i.e. non-toughened material of the cap 5 and of the base substrate 3. The base substrate 3 is joined directly to the cap 5, so that no further layer or no further substrate is arranged between the base substrate 3 and the cap 5. The functional area 13 is in the form of a cavity 12. AF45 or 8337b can be used as the material for the cap 5, for example, and the base substrate 3 may be a single-layer or multi-layer AlN ceramic. The vias or contacting feedthroughs 35, 35a are filled, i.e. in particular hermetically sealed.

[0100] Referring to FIG. 8 which illustrates a further embodiment of the package 1, in which a plurality of contacts 32, 32a, 32b, 32c are provided inside the cavity and are extended to the second contacts 34, 34a, 34b, 34c outside package 1 via feedthroughs 35, 35a, 35b, 35c. The second contacts 34, 34a, 34b, 34c are arranged on the underside of base substrate 3 in this example. The accommodation item, for example a microprocessor or a power transistor, may have contacts on the lower and upper surfaces thereof. In this example, the microprocessor has three contacts on its lower surface, and the microprocessor 2 is directly supported on the three contacts 32a, 32b, 32c, and the upper surface contact is connected to the contact 32 via contacting wire 36. Cap 5 and base substrate 3 are hermetically joined to one another by two laser bonding lines 8.

[0101] FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the package 1 in which the accommodation item 2 only has contacts on the underside thereof. The accommodation item 2 can then be simply placed directly on the contacts 32, 32a, dispensing with the contacting wires 36, 36a.

[0102] FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the package 1 in which the second contacts 34, 34a are disposed on the upper surface of the base substrate 3 and laterally of the package 1. Although the surface area of the base substrate 3 required for each package 1 is larger in this embodiment, resulting advantages are, on the one hand, that the electrical connection of the second contacts 34, 34a can be made from above, which may be easier. Moreover, no bore will be made in the base substrate 3, so that hermetic sealing can be achieved more easily if the base substrate as such is expected to ensure hermetic sealing. This embodiment may be advantageous in a case, for example, where a plurality of packages 1 are arranged on a common base substrate 3 (see FIG. 12), or if the contacts are intended to be electrically connected later. It will be appreciated that more than 4 contacts may be provided, which may also be arranged only on the underside of the accommodation item 2, or distributed on the underside and on the upper surface, or may be arranged on the underside and/or on the upper surface of the base substrate 3. AlN can be used as the material of the base substrate, in a single-layer or multi-layer design, and Si.sub.3N.sub.4 can also be used. FIG. 11 shows a further embodiment with second contacts 34, 34a arranged on the upper surface, with the accommodation item 2 being disposed on the contact 32a and electrically connected with contact 32 via contacting wire 36.

[0103] Referring to FIG. 12 which shows a shared base substrate 3 on which two bottom areas 22 of two packages 1 are defined. Each package 1 has one accommodation item 2 placed on the base substrate 3, and the accommodation items are electrically connected to the exterior to the respective second contacts 34 and 34a. Given the type of embodiment as in FIG. 12 it will be appreciated that a shared base substrate 3 may also include a plurality of packages 1 which may optionally perform common tasks, that is they may be electrically connected to one another.

[0104] FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of the package 1 in which a cavity 12 is introduced into the base substrate 3. For example, the cavity 12 may be introduced into the base substrate 3 by a sandblasting process, i.e. may be recessed in the base substrate 3, more generally by using an abrasive process. Chemical etching is another option for introducing the cavity 12 into the base substrate 3. An advantage of this embodiment is that the cap 5 can be made in the form of a simple glass sheet, for example, which is joined to the basic substrate 3 by micro-bonding and laser bonding lines 8. Again, AlN can be used as the material of the base substrate 3, or else High Temperature Cofired Ceramics (HTCCs). In the case of a multi-layer ceramic, the making of the cavity 12 has proven to be particularly easy to implement if these cavities 12 have already been produced in the green state, for example by a stamping process.

[0105] Referring to FIG. 14 which shows an embodiment of the method for producing a plurality of packages 1 on the substrate 3. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that it is equally possible to only mount a single package or a single cap 5 on a substrate, depending on the process requirements. With regard to the process sequence, such a method for mounting a single cap 5 on a substrate 3 would ultimately be a simplification of the method illustrated here by way of FIG. 14.

[0106] In a step A, a plurality of accommodation items 2 are placed on the base substrate 3, for example soldered to provided contacts 32, 32a (see FIG. 3). It is intended to mount a cap 5 over each accommodation item 2, i.e. to produce a separate cavity 12 for each accommodation item 2. However, it is also possible to accommodate a plurality of accommodation items 2 in a common cavity 12 using a shared cap 5.

[0107] In step B, the glass caps 5 are placed on the base substrate 3 so as to completely form the cavities 12.

[0108] Step C shows the laser welding of the respective accommodation cavities 12, i.e. the sealing of the cavities 12 all around along contact areas 25 and the introduction of the at least one laser bonding line 8 per package 1. For this purpose, a laser unit 15 is directed over the surface of the substrate 3 from above the caps 5, and a focused laser beam 9 is selectively directed to the zones to be joined, that is to the contact areas 25. Once step C of the manufacturing process has been completed, all of the cavities 12 will have been hermetically sealed. It is possible to separate the individual packages 1 from one another by a cutting process, after step C, so as to obtain individual separate packages.

[0109] In step D, the components are separated from one another along separation or cutting lines 10. Optionally, the same laser as for the laser welding in step C may be used for this purpose. However, a conventional cutting technique may also be employed, if this is advantageous.

[0110] It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the embodiments described above are meant to be exemplary and that the invention is not limited thereto but may be varied in many ways without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, it will be apparent that irrespective of whether disclosed in the description, the claims, the figures, or otherwise, the features individually define essential components of the invention, even if they are described together with other features. Throughout the figures, the same reference numerals designate the same features, so that a description of features that are possibly only mentioned in one or at least not in conjunction with all figures can also be transferred to such figures with regard to which the feature has not explicitly been described in the specification.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0111] 1 Hermetically sealed, chemically toughened package
2 Accommodation item
3 Lower substrate, layer, or wafer, base substrate, or lower cover, with good thermal conductivity
5 Upper substrate, layer, or wafer, cover substrate, or upper cover, optically transparent for laser bonding
8 Laser welding zone
9 Focused laser beam
10 Separation or cutting lines
12 Accommodation cavity
13 Functional area
13a Second functional area

14 Edge

[0112] 15 Laser unit for welding and/or cutting
16 Laser pulse impact area
21 Edge of cavity
22 Bottom of cavity
23 Upper side of cavity
25 Contact area
27 Toughened zone or first toughened layer
28 Toughened zone or second toughened layer
29 Toughened zone or third toughened layer

[0113] While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.