On the mechanism of anisotropic etching of silicon

A new model is proposed that explains the anisotropy of the etch rate of single crystalline silicon in certain etchants. It is inspired from theories of crystal growth. We assume that the (111)-face is flat on an atomic scale. Then the etch rate should be governed by a nucleation barrier of one atomic layer deep cavities. The origin of the nucleation barrier is that the formation of a too small cavity increases the free energy of the system due to the step-free energy. The step-free energy and the undersaturation governs the activation energy of the etch rate. Having the largest step-free energy, the (111)-face etches the slowest. The model explains qualitatively why the etching is isotropic in certain etchants and anisotropic in others

Influence of applied potentials on anisotropic etching of silicon described using kinematic wave etch model

Anisotropic etch rates of silicon in KOH solutions were studied as a function of an externally applied potential. A combination of three micromachined samples consisting of predry-etched wagon-wheel patterns and masked trench offset patterns was used to measure the etch rates at a large number of crystal orientations simultaneously. The measured data was described in terms of microscopic properties, including step velocities, terrace roughening, and step anisotropy, using the kinematic wave etch model. All parameters show distinct changes due to the applied potential and resulting additional electrochemical reaction path. A decrease in step velocity shows the electrochemical oxidation and subsequent passivation of the Si surface. Trends in terrace roughening show a minimum in roughness and a corresponding change in anisotropic etch-rate ratio at the non-open-circuit potential of −1250 mV vs saturated calomel electrode. The observed decrease in step anisotropy and subsequent step-anisotropy reversal at more positive potentials indicates an anisotropy in not only chemical etching but also electrochemical oxidation of (111) surface steps.\u

Micro mixer with fast diffusion

A concept for micromixing of liquid is introduced, and its feasibility is demonstrated. The mixer allows fast mixing of small amounts of two liquids and is applicable to microliquid handling systems. The mixer has a channel for the liquid, an inlet port for the reagent, a 2.2-mm×2-mm×330-μm mixing area, and 400 micronozzles (15 μm×15 μm) through with a reagent is injected into the sample liquid. The resulting microplumes greatly increase the contact surface between the two liquids and hasten the speed of the mixing by diffusion. The fabrication process is extremely simple. The mixing is complete within a few seconds; a homogeneous state of mixing is reached in 1.2 s when the total volume injected is 0.5 μl and the injection flow rate is 0.75 μl/

Determination of young's modulus of PZT-influence of cantilever orientation

Calculation of the resonance frequency of cantilevers fabricated from an elastically anisotropic material requires the use of an effective Young’s modulus. In this paper a technique to determine the appropriate effective Young’s modulus for arbitrary cantilever geometries is introduced. This technique is validated using a combined analytical and finite element simulations (FEM) approach. In addition, the effective Young’s modulus of PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT) thin films deposited on dedicated micromachined cantilevers was investigated experimentally. The PZT films were deposited on the cantilevers by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The change in flexural resonance frequency of the cantilevers was measured both before and after deposition of the PZT thin film. From this frequency difference we determined the Young’s modulus of PZT deposited by PLD to be 103 ± 2 GPa. Even though the PZT is grown epitaxially, this value is independent of the in-plane orientation

Nonlinearity and hysteresis of resonant strain gauges

Nonlinearity and hysteresis effects of electrostatically activated, voltage driven resonant microbridges have been studied theoretically and experimentally. It is shown, that, in order to avoid vibration instability and hysteresis to occur, the choices of the ax. and d.c. driving voltages and of the quality factor of a resonator, with a given geometry and choice of materials, are limited by a hysteresis criterion. The limiting conditions are also formulated as hysteresis-free design rules. An expression for the maximum attainable figure of merit is also given. Experimental results, as obtained from electrostatically driven vacuum-encapsulated polysilicon microbridges, are presented and show good agreement with the theory

The black silicon method: a universal method for determining the parameter setting of a fluorine-based reactive ion etcher in deep silicon trench etching with profile control

Very deep trenches (up to 200 µm) with high aspect ratios (up to 10) in silicon and polymers are etched using a fluorine-based plasma (SF6/O2/CHF3). Isotropic, positively and negatively (i.e. reverse) tapered as well as fully vertical walls with smooth surfaces are achieved by controlling the plasma chemistry. A convenient way to find the processing conditions needed for a vertical wall is described: the black silicon method. This new procedure is checked for three different reactive ion etchers (RIE), two parallel-plate reactors and a hexode. The influence of the RF power, pressure and gas mixture on the profile will be shown. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photos are included to demonstrate the black silicon method, the influence of the gases on the profile, and the use of this method in fabricating microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

Fabrication of cantilever arrays with tips for parallel optical readout

We report on progress in the fabrication of cantilever arrays with tips. The process features only one lithographic step for the definition of both the tips and cantilevers. The tips have a uniform height distribution and are placed by selfalignment on the cantilever. The arrays are fabricated for an optical readout technique under development in which the cantilever arrays serve as diffraction gratings. This work describes our ongoing effort in array fabrication as well as preliminary results on optical readout of a previously fabricated batch of tipless cantilever arrays using Fraunhofer diffraction

Performance of thermally excited resonators

A study of electrothermal excitation of micromachined silicon beams is reported. The temperature distribution is calculated as a function of the position of the transducer, resulting in stress in the structure which reduces the resonance frequency. Test samples are realized and measurements of resonance frequency, vibration shape and vibration amplitude are carried out. There is a satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment at small thermal stresses. Near the buckling load we find distinct deviations from theory which are ascribed to mechanical imperfections of the beams

A UHF 4th-order band-pass filter based on contour-mode PZT-on-silicon resonators

A UHF 4th-order band-pass filter (BPF) based on the subtraction of two 2nd-order contour-mode resonators with slightly different resonance frequencies is presented. The resonators consists of a 1 μm pulsed-laser deposited (PLD) lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin-film on top of a 3 μm silicon (PZT-on-Si). The resonators are actuated in-phase and their outputs are subtracted. Utilizing this technique, the outputs of the resonators are added up constructively while the feed-through signals are eliminated. The BPF presented a bandwidth of approximately 28.6 MHz and more than 30 dB stopband rejection at around 700 MHz