Unit III-Surface Micromachining

VIII Sem EE
Silicon Micromachining
Micromachining of silicon classified as
Bulk micromachining and surface micromachining.
In bulk micromachining process-micromechanical
structures are realized within the bulk of a SCS
wafer by selective etching.
In case of surface micromachining process-
structure are built on the surface of a silicon wafer
by depositing sacrificial and structural layers and
subsequently patterning and removing sacrificial
layer.
Major fabrication steps involved in bulk and surface
micromachining are photolithography ,thin flim
deposition and etching.
Continued……
 Polysilicon is commonly used as one of the layers.
 Silicon dioxide is used as sacrificial layer which is removed /etched
out to create necessary void in the thickness direction .Wet etching is
common method used for that purpose.
 The added layers need not be single crystal or silicon compounds.
 The thickness of layers added is typically 2-5um.
 The dimension of surface micro machined components are much
smaller compared to those fabricated using bulk micromachining
techniques.
 Below figure illustrate the difference between bulk and surface
micromachining
a microcantilever beam that can be used either as a
microaccelerometer or as an actuator .
The cantilever beam is made of single crystal silicon with a
significant amount of material etched away .
The same cantilever beam structure can be produced by polysilicon
with a surface micromachining technique…
• Fig Microcantilever beams produced by two
micromachining techniques

Polysilicon cantilever beam

Silicon cantilever
Die Attach beam

Constraint Base
Constraint Base

b) By surface micromachining
a) By bulk micromachining
 Standard
silicon wafer
Material removed by thickness
etching

Fig. Waste of material in bulk micromachining.

From the above figure it is clear that surface micromachining not only
saves material ,but also eliminates the need for a die attach, as the
polysilicon beam can be built on the top of the constraint base
directly.
Surface Micromachining Process
 Surface micro machined devices are typically made of three types of
components i) a sacrificial components (a spacer layer) ,ii)a
microstructural components and iii) an insulator component.
 Sacrificial layer is usually made up of phosphosilicate glass (PSG) or
silicon dioxide (SiO2) deposited on the substrate by LPCVD
technique.
 Thickness of sacrificial layers can be 0.1-5um.
 PSG can be etched more rapidly than SiO2 in HF etchants.
 Both wet and dry etching techniques can be used for surface
micromachining.
 Basic Steps involved in sacrificial layer technology for surface
micromachining are:
1. Deposition and patterning of sacrificial layer(usually SiO2 ).
2. Deposition and patterning of structural (polysilicon) layer.
3. Removal of sacrificial layer.

Material System for Sacrificial Layer Technology

1. Surface micromachining require a compatible set of structural
material ,sacrificial materials and etchants .
2. Structural materials are required to have requisite mechanical
properties such as high yield and fracture strength ,minimum creep
and fatigue and good wear resistance .
3. The material also required to have good adhesion and low residual
stress to avoid device failure by cracking.
4. The etchants must have excellent etch selectivity and be able to etch
off sacrificial layers without affecting other layers.
Common materials used in surface micromachining are:
1. Polysilicon/Silicon dioxide : LPCVD deposited polysilicon as
structural material and LPCVD deposited silicon dioxide layer as
sacrificial material.
Silicon dioxide etched using HF that does not significantly affect
polysilicon.
2. Polymide/aluminium: Polymide serves as the structural material
whereas aluminum is used as the sacrificial material.
Acid based etchants are used to etch aluminum.
3. Silicon nitride/polysilicon: Silicon nitride is used as the structural
material and poysilicon as the sacrificial material.
Polysilicon is etched using isotropic etchants.
4. Tungsten /Silicon dioxide : CV deposited tungsten is used as the
structural material with SiO2 as the sacrificial material .
HF can be used to remove SiO2.
 Realizing a cantilever structure by surface Micromachining:
The process steps involved are :
1. Deposite a thick silicon dioxide layer on the top surface of Si wafer.
2. Deposite photoresist by spin coating and then pattern transfer by UV
lithography.
3. Develop photoresist to expose regions of silicon dioxide for etching .
As in lithography ,the resist is baked to withstand the etching step
that follows .
4. Remove silicon dioxide from those areas where the cantilever beam
(polysilicon) anchors on the Si wafer.
5. Deposite polysilicon on the surface by CVD process. This is doped to
change its etch characteristics and conductivity.
The beam area is defined by patterning steps similar to those followed
for etching oxide.
6. Remove SiO2 sacrificial layer by release etch.
 SiO2

(c)

(a)

Photoresist
(d)

(b) Polysilicon

(e)
(f)
Above Pictorial representation of surface micromachining to realize
cantilever structure
a) Deposite SiO2 on Si wafer b) UV lithography c) developing d) oxide
etching e) poysilicon deposition and patterning f) removal of oxide
(sacrificial layer)
 Mechanical problems associated with surface micromachining
Three major problem of mechanical nature:-
1. adhesion of layer 2. interfacial stresses 3.stiction
adhesion of layer:-
 Whenever two layers of materials ,whether similar or
dissimilar are bonded are bonded together a possibility of
delamination exists.
 A bilayer structure can delaminate at the interface either by
peeling of one layer from the other or shear that causes the
severing of the interfaces locally along the interface.

(b) Severing along the interface

by shear
(a) Peeling off
 Many causes for interfacial failures, excessive thermal and mechanical
stress is the main cause.
 Other causes including surface conditions e.g. the cleanliness
,roughness and absorption energy .
Interfacial stresses
 Three types of stresses that exist in bilayer structures:-
thermal stresses –mismatch of the coefficients of thermal expansion
of the components materials.
Residual stresses –that are inherent in the macrofabrication processes.
For example ;- a Sio2 layer grown on the top surface of a silicon
substrate
LIGA Process
 Both micromanufacturing techniques- bulk and surface
micromachining- involve microfabrication processes evolved from
microelectronics technology.
 Most silicon based MEMS and microsystems use wafers of
standard sizes and thicknesses as substrates,on which etching or thin
flim deposition takes place to form the desired three dimensional
geomertry.
 The other limitation is on the materials ,silicon –based MEMS
preclude the use of conventional materials such as polymers and
plastics, as well metals for the structures and thin flim.
 The LIGA process is different from bulk & surface micromachining .
 This process offer a great potential for manufacturing non silicon
based microstructure.
 Single most important feature of this process is that it can produce
thick microstructures that have extremely flat and parallel surfaces
such as microgear trains, motors and generators and microturbines
made of metals and plastics.
 Major Fabrication Steps in the LIGA Process
The term LIGA –
Lithography(Lithographie),electroforming
(Gavanoformung),electroforming(galvanoformung)
and molding (Abformung)
 The technique was first developed at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research
center in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Fig. Major Fabrication Steps in LIGA Process

Deep x-ray Photoresist with Electroplating

lithography desired patterns of metal on
patterns

Metal Plastic products by

Metal product or Model injection molding
 The LIGA process start with deep x-ray lithography –sets
the desire pattern on a thick flim of photoresist.
 X-rays –used as alight source in photolithography because
of is process are provided by their short wavelength which
provide high penetration power into the photoresist
materials.
 This power is necessary for high resolution in lithography
,for high aspect ratio in the depth.
 Short wavelength of x-ray allows a line width of -0.2um .
 An aspect ratio of more than 100:1.
 X-ray used in this process are provided by a synchrotron
radiation source, which allow high through put because the
high flux of collimated rays shortens the exposure time.
 LIGA process is demonstrated by following example.
 Gold
Plated
Region
(b)Developed
resist after
lithography
Mask (Si3N4 ) 1-
1.5um thick

Photore
sist
PMMA
Desired product
a tube Substrate Substrate
Plated metal layers
(a) X-ray lithography Metal tube

(d) After
Substrate removing resist
Substrate
(c) After electroplating
• Desired Product in this case is a microthin wall metal tube
of square cross section.
• Begin the process by depositing a thick flim of photoresist
material on the surface of a sustrate.
• Popular resist material sensitive to x-ray PMMA.
• Mask are used in x-ray litography.
• Most masking material are transparent to x-rays ,so
necessary to apply a thin flim of gold to the area that will
block x-ray transmission.
• Thin mask used for this purpose is silicon nitride with a
thickness varying from 1 to 1.5um.
• The deep x-ray lithography will cause the exposed area to
be dissolved in the subsequent development of resist
material .
The PMMA after the development will have the
outline of the product ,i.e. the outside profile of the
tube.
This is followed by electroplating of the PMMA
photoresist with a desired metal ,using nickel to
produce the tabular product of the required wall
thickness.
The desired tabular product is produced after the
removal of the photoresist materials (i.e. PMMA) by
oxygen plasma or chemical solvents.