MEMS Fabrication I :

Process Flows and Bulk

Micromachining

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Dr. Thara Srinivasan

Lecture 2

Picture credit: Alien Technology

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Lecture Outline
Reading
Reader is in! (at South side Copy Central)
Kovacs, Bulk Micromachining of Silicon, pp. 1536-43.
Williams, Etch Rates for Micromachining Processing, pp.
256-60.
Senturia, Chapter 3, Microfabrication.

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Todays Lecture

Tools Needed for MEMS Fabrication

Photolithography Review
Crystal Structure of Silicon
Bulk Silicon Etching Techniques

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IC Processing
Cross-section

Masks

Cross-section

Masks

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N-type Metal Oxide Semiconductor

(NMOS) process flow
Jaeger

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CMOS Processing
Processing steps

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Oxidation
Photolithography
Etching
Chemical Vapor
Deposition
Diffusion
Ion Implantation
Evaporation and
Sputtering
Epitaxy

Jaeger
Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor

deposit

etch

pattern

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MEMS Devices

Polysilicon level 1

Plate
Polysilicon level 2

Polysilicon level 2

Staple

Polysilicon level 1

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Silicon substrate
Hinge staple

Silicon substrate

Prof. Kris Pister

Support arm
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MEMS Devices

Microoptomechanical
switches, Lucent
Caliper

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Thermally isolated RMS

converter Reay et al.

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Analog Devices
Integrated
accelerometer

Microturbine, Schmidt group MIT

MEMS Processing
Unique to MEMS fabrication

Sacrificial etching
Mechanical properties critical
Thicker films and deep etching
Etching into substrate
Double-sided lithography
3-D assembly
Wafer-bonding
Molding
Integration with electronics, fluidics

sacrificial layer
structural layer

Unique to MEMS packaging and testing

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Delicate mechanical structures

Packaging: before or after dicing?
Sealing in gas environments

Interconnect - electrical, mechanical, fluidic

Testing electrical, mechanical, fluidic

Package
Dice
Release

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Photolithography:
Masks and Photoresist
Photolithography steps

Photoresist spinnning, 1-10 m spin coating

Optical exposure through a photomask
Developing to dissolve exposed resist
Bake to drive off solvents
Remove using solvents (acetone) or O2 plasma

Photomasks

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Layout generated from CAD file

Mask reticle: chrome or emulsion on fused silica
1-3 $k

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light-field

dark-field

Photoresist Application
Spin-casting photoresist
Polymer resin, sensitizer, carrier
solvent
Positive and negative photoresist

Thickness depends on
Concentration
Viscosity
Spin speed
Spin time

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www.brewerscience.com

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Photolithography Tools

Contact or proximity

Projection

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Resolution: Contact - 1-2 m,

Proximity - 5 m
Depth of focus poor

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Reduce 5-10, stepper mode

Resolution - 0.5 (/NA) ~ 1 m
Depth of focus ~ Few ms

Double-sided lithography

Make alignment marks on both sides of wafer

Use IR imaging to see through to back side
Store image of front side marks; align to back

Materials for MEMS

Substrates
Silicon
Glass
Quartz

Thin Films

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Polysilicon
Silicon Dioxide,
Silicon Nitride
Metals
Polymers

Silicon crystal structure

= 5.43
Wolf and Tauber

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Silicon Crystallography
[001] z

<100>

(110)

[010]
(100)

[100] x

(110)

(111)

Miller Indices (h k l)
Planes

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Reciprocal of plane intercepts with axes

Intercepts of normal to plane with plane
(unique), {family}

Directions

Move one endpoint to origin

[unique], <family>

{111}

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Silicon Crystallography
0

1/2

0
1/4

3/4
1/2

1/2

0
1/4

3/4

1/2

Angles between planes,

between [abc] and [xyz] given by:

ax+by+cz = |(a,b,c)|*|(x,y,z)|*cos()

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(100),(111) = Cos 1 ((1 + 0 + 0) /(1)( 3 ))

{100} and {110} 45
{100} and {111} 54.74
{110} and {111} 35.26, 90 and 144.74

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Silicon Crystal Origami

{111}
(111)

{110}

{111}
(111)

(101)

{100}

{111}
(111)

Judy

{110}
(101)

[101][101]

(100)

{111}
(111)

{100}

{110}

{111}
(111)

(011)

{110}
(101)

{111}
(111)

{110}
(011)

[110] [110]
(010)

(110)

{100}

{110}

(100)

(110)

{100}

{110}

[001]

[100]

(110)

(010)

[001]

{100}

{110}

(110)

Adapted from Profs. Kris

Pister and Jack Judy
Print onto transparency
Assemble inside out
Visualize crystal plane
orientations, intersections,
and directions

{110}

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Silicon fold-up cube

[011][011]

(001)

[100]

{110}
(011)

{111}
(111)

{110}
(101)
[010]

{111}
(111)

{110}
(011)

[010]

{100}
(001)

Judy, UCLA

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Silicon Wafers
Location of primary

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and secondary flats

shows
Crystal orientation
Doping, n- or p-type

Maluf

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Mechanical Properties of Silicon

Crystalline silicon is a hard and brittle material that
deforms elastically until it reaches its yield strength,
at which point it breaks.
Tensile yield strength = 7 GPa (~1500 lb suspended from 1
mm)
Youngs Modulus near that of stainless steel
{100} = 130 GPa; {110} = 169 GPa; {111} = 188 GPa

Mechanical properties uniform, no intrinsic stress

Mechanical integrity up to 500C
Good thermal conductor, low thermal expansion coefficient
High piezoresistivity

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What is Bulk
Micromachining?

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Bulk Etching of Silicon

Etching modes
Isotropic vs. anisotropic
Reaction-limited
Etch rate dependent on temperature
Diffusion-limited
Etch rate dependent on mixing
Also dependent on layout and
geometry, loading

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Choosing a method

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Desired shapes
Etch depth and uniformity
Surface roughness
Process compatibility
Safety, cost, availability,
environmental impact

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adsorption

surface
reaction

desorption

slowest step controls

rate of reaction

Wet Etch Variations, Crystalline Si

Etch rate variation due to wet etch set-up

Loss of reactive species through consumption

Evaporation of liquids
Poor mixing (etch product blocks diffusion of reactants)
Contamination
Applied potential
Illumination

Etch rate variation due to material being etched

Impurities/dopants

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Etch rate variation due to layout

Distribution of exposed area ~ loading

Structure geometry

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Anisotropic Etching of Silicon

Etching of Si with KOH
Si + 2OH- Si(OH)2 2+ + 4e4H2O + 4e- 4(OH) - + 2H2
Crystal orientation relative etch

rates
{110}:{100}:{111} = 600:400:1

{111} plane has three of its bonds

below the surface

{111} may form protective oxide

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quickly

{111} smoother than other crystal

planes

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<100>
Maluf

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KOH Etch Conditions

1 KOH : 2 H2O (wt.), stirred bath @ 80C
Si (100) 1.4 m/min
Etch masks
Si3N4 0
SiO2 1-10 nm/min
Photoresist, Al ~ fast

Micromasking by H2 bubbles leads to roughness

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Stirring displaces bubbles

Oxidizer, surfactant additives

Maluf

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Undercutting
Convex
corners
bounded by
{111} planes
are attacked

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Ristic

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Undercutting
Convex

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corners
bounded by
{111} planes
are attacked

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Corner Compensation
Protect corners with compensation

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areas in layout
Mesa array for self-assembly test
structures, Smith and coworkers (1995)

Hadley

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Alien Technology
Chang

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Corner Compensation

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Self-assembly microparts, Alien Technology

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Other Anisotropic Etchants

TMAH, Tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide, 10-40 wt.% (90C)

Etch rate (100) = 0.5-1.5 m/min

Al safe, IC compatible
Etch ratio (100)/(111) = 10-35
Etch masks: SiO2 , Si3N4 ~ 0.05-0.25 nm/min
Boron doped etch stop, up to 40 slower

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EDP (115C)

Carcinogenic, corrosive
Etch rate (100) = 0.75 m/min
Al may be etched
R(100) > R(110) > R(111)
Etch ratio (100)/(111) = 35
Etch masks: SiO2 ~ 0.2 nm/min, Si3N4 ~ 0.1 nm/min
Boron doped etch stop, 50 slower

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Boron-Doped Etch Stop

Control etch depth precisely with
boron doping (p++)
[B] > 1020 cm-3 reduces KOH etch
rate by 20-100
Gaseous or solid boron diffusion
At high dopant level, injected
electrons recombine with holes in
valence band and are unavailable for
reactions to give OH-

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Results

Beams, suspended films

1-20 m layers possible
p++ not compatible with CMOS
Buried p++ compatible

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Micronozzle

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Maluf

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Microneedles

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Ken Wise group,

University of Michigan

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Microneedles

Wise group,
University of Michigan

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Microneedles

Wise group,
University of Michigan

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Electrochemical Etch Stop

Electrochemical etch stop

n-type epitaxial layer grown on p-type wafer forms p-n diode

p>n

electrical conduction
p<n

reverse bias current

Passivation potential potential at which thin SiO2 layer
forms, different for p- and n-Si

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Set-up
p-n diode in reverse bias
p-substrate floating etched
n-layer above passivation
potential not etched

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Electrochemical Etch Stop

Electrochemical etching on preprocessed CMOS wafers

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N-type Si well with circuits suspended from SiO2 support beam

Thermally and electrically isolated
TMAH etchant, Al bond pads safe

Reay et al. (1994)

Kovacs group, Stanford U.

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Pressure Sensors
Bulk micromachined pressure
sensors
Piezoresistivity change in
electrical resistance due to
mechanical stress
In response to pressure load on
thin Si film, piezoresistive
elements change resistance
Membrane deflection < 1 m
(100) Si
diaphragm

Bondpad
R2

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(111)
(111)

Backside
port
Etched
cavity

P-type diffused
piezoresistor
RR
11
RR3

Metal
conductors
n-type
epitaxial
layer

Anodically
bonded
Pyrex
substrate

n-type
epilayer,
p-type
substrate

Deposit
insulator

Diffuse
piezoresistors

Deposit &
pattern metal
Electrochemical
etch of backside
cavity

Anodic
bonding
of glass

Maluf

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Pressure Sensors
Only 150 400 900 m3

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Catheter-tip
pressure sensor,
Lucas NovaSensor

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Isotropic Etching of Silicon

pure HF
reaction-limited

HNA: hydrofluoric acid (HF),

nitric acid (HNO3) and acetic
(CH3COOH) or water
HNO3 oxidizes Si to SiO2
HF converts SiO2 to soluble
H2SiF6
Acetic prevents dissociation of
HNO3

Etch masks

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SiO2 etched at 30-80 nm/min

Nonetching Au or Si3N4

pure HNO3

Robbins

diffusion-limited

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Isotropic Etching Examples

Tjerkstra, 1997

5% (49%) HF : 80% (69%) HNO3 : 15% H2O (by volume)

Half-circular channels for chromatography
Etch rate 0.8-1 m/min
Surface roughness 3 nm

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Pro and Con

Easy to mold from rounded channels
Etch rate and profile are highly agitation sensitive

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Dry Etching of Silicon

Dry etching
Plasma phase
Vapor phase

sheath

Parameters

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Gas and species generated ~

ions, radicals, photons
RF frequency, 13.56 MHz
RF power, 10s to 1000s W
Pressure, mTorr >100 Torr

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e - + CF4 CF3+ + F + 2e-

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Plasma Etching of Silicon

Plasma phase etching processes

(physical)

Sputtering
Physical, nonselective, faceted

Plasma etching
Chemical, selective, isotropic

Reactive ion etching (RIE)

Physical and chemical, fairly selective,
directional

Inductively-coupled RIE
Physical and chemical, fairly selective,
directional

Crystalline silicon
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Etch gases ~ fluorine, chlorinebased

Reactive species ~ F, Cl, Cl2
Products ~ SiF4, SiCl4

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High-Aspect-Ratio Plasma Etching

Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) with
inhibitor film
Inductively-coupled plasma
Bosch method for anisotropic etching,
1.5 - 4 m/min

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Etch cycle (5-15 s)

SF6 (SFx+) etches Si
Deposition cycle (5-15 s)
C4F8 deposits fluorocarbon protective
polymer (-CF2-)n

Etch mask selectivity: SiO2 ~ 200:1,

photoresist ~ 100:1
Sidewall roughness: scalloping < 50 nm
Sidewall angle: 90 2
Maluf

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DRIE Issues
Etch rate is diffusion-limited and drops
for narrow trenches
Adjust mask layout to eliminate large
disparities
Adjust process parameters (etch rate
slows to < 1 m/min)

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Etch depth precision

Etch stop ~ buried layer of SiO2
Lateral undercut at Si/SiO2 interface ~
footing
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DRIE Examples

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Comb-drive Actuator

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Keller, MEMS Precision

Instruments

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Electrospray Nozzle

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Advanced BioAnalytical Services

G. A. Schultz et al., 2000.

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Vapor Phase Etching of Silicon

Vapor-phase etchant XeF2

2XeF2(v) + Si(s) 2Xe(v) + SiF4(v)

Set-up
Xe sublimes at room T
Closed chamber, 1-4 Torr
Pulsed to control exothermic heat of
reaction

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Etch rates: 1-3 m/min (up to 40),

isotropic
Etch masks: photoresist, SiO2, Si3N4, Al,
metals
Issues
Etched surfaces have granular structure,
10 m roughness
Hazard: XeF2 reacts with H2O in air to
form Xe and HF

Xactix

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Etching with Xenon Difluoride

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Post processed CMOS inductor

Pister group

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Laser-Driven Etching
Laser-Assisted Chemical Etching

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Laser creates Cl radicals from Cl2; Si

converts to SiCl4.
Etch rate: 100,000 m3/s; 3 min to
etch 500500125 m3 trench
Surface roughness: 30 nm RMS
Serial process: patterned directly
from CAD file
Laser-assisted etching
of a 500500 m2
terraced silicon well.
Each step is 6 m
deep.
Revise, Inc.

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