Hermetic Sealing

Hermetic sealing is the packaging approach that creates a near gas-tight enclosure to isolate devices from moisture, oxygen, and contaminants - it is essential for long-life operation in sensitive electronic and MEMS products.

What Is Hermetic sealing?

• Definition: Seal strategy designed to maintain controlled internal environment over product lifetime.
• Seal Methods: Uses metal, glass, ceramic, or specialized wafer-bond interfaces.
• Performance Metric: Leak rate qualification defines hermeticity quality and acceptance.
• Application Scope: Used for MEMS, sensors, RF modules, and high-reliability electronics.

Why Hermetic sealing Matters

• Reliability Protection: Blocks moisture and corrosive species that degrade devices.
• Drift Control: Stable internal atmosphere reduces sensor drift and calibration shift.
• Safety: Prevents contamination ingress in mission-critical and medical systems.
• Regulatory Compliance: Many high-reliability sectors require hermetic package standards.
• Lifecycle Extension: Improves long-term stability under harsh environmental stress.

How It Is Used in Practice

• Seal Design: Select materials and joint geometry for target leak-rate requirements.
• Process Qualification: Validate hermeticity with helium leak tests and stress screening.
• Aging Monitoring: Track seal performance under thermal cycle and humidity qualification.

Hermetic sealing is a critical reliability mechanism in protected device packaging - strong hermetic control preserves function in demanding operating environments.