Thin silicon in a novel 3-D format for implementation in distributed autonomous micro modules

Abstract

Silicon thinning, interconnection and packaging are key innovative hardware technologies that can be used to realise distributed autonomous micro-modules (DAMM) for future ad-hoc networks in ambient systems and intelligent environments. These would interact, respond and learn from their surroundings making integration of engineering, computer science and human intelligence a reality. This paper investigates thinning silicon sensors and packaging these sensors in a tetrahedral format. This form was chosen because it is vastly expandable and when miniaturised can be used as a building block for DAMM’s, which can be designed to physically integrate into materials from which artefacts are fabricated.