Deep Vertical Etching of Silicon Wafers Using a

Hydrogenation-Assisted Reactive Ion Etching

Abhishek Kumar Gupta

EEN192277
Course Code:- ELL730
Introduction : Etching System
MICROELECTROMECHANICAL systems

Surface Micromachining
Bulk Micromachining
 Successive Thin film
Deposition  Etching

 Selective Etching  Obtained 3-D

structure
 This creates structures
on top of a substrate  This creates
structures inside a
 Typically uses dry substrate
etching techniques
 It uses wet etching
techniques
 Etching techniques & its Problem

Types of Etching

Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) Deep Reactive Ion

Etching(DRIE)
 Dry Etching Method
 Direct Etch Micromachining
 Plasma Etching Method
combined with sputtering
 High Density Plasma

 Cryo Process

 Bosch Process
Reactive Ion Etching
 Etchant Chemistries:-
 Isotropic: F Based Plasma
 Anisotropic: Cl and BR

 Advantages:-
 Highly Anisotropic
 Enhanced structure
 High Resolution

 Limitations:-
 Low Etch rate
 Low level of Selectivity
 Surface Damage
Deep Reactive Ion Etching
 Cryo Process:
 Single step process
 Etch gas and passivation gas are released at the
same time
 Done at cryogenic temperature (<-110°C )
 Bombarding of ions helps to etch the surface

 Limitations:
 Use high plasma Power.
 Standard Mask or substrate may crack under very
cold ambient.
 Etch by product may deposit on the nearest cold
surface i.e. substrate or electrode.
 Complex and expensive equipments.
Deep Reactive Ion Etching (Cont.)
 Bosch Process:
 Developed by German company -
RobertBosch in 1994
 Cycling two-steps process altering
between deposition and etch steps
 1st – standard isotropic plasma etch
 2nd – passivation layer déposition

 Limitations:
 Use high density plasma power
 Expensive polymeric (Téflon) coating
 Complex and Expensive equipments.
 Hydrogenation-Assisted Deep Vertical Etching

 Sequential plasma Etching

 Oxide plasma helps to provide the protection layer on exposed silicon wafer

 Concurrent hydrogen ion bombardment helps to exposed the substrate which leads to
removal of vertical silicon.
Hydrogenation-Assisted Deep Vertical Etching (Cont.)

 Steps:

 The chromium film as the masking layer is

patterned.

 Hydrogen penetrates into the silicon substrate in

the first hydrogenation/oxidation sub cycle

 During this sub cycle, the matching network is

connected to the bottom electrode

 The process continues with etching sub cycle

where the matching network is connected
to the top electrode.

 The next hydrogenation/oxidation sub cycle is

repeated to passivate the sidewalls

 The last two steps are repeated to obtained

desired vertical depth.
 What is different in this technique?
 Main feature of our etching technique is an alternative switching between the anode
and cathode plates

 The sample is placed on the lower plate in the reactor, electrical connections of the
electrodes are alternatively interchanged so that the bombardment of the sample
surface by positive ions (H+) is increased in one sub cycle

 Without this switching action, no vertical etching can be observed and severe
undercut is the result, as expected from a normal plasma etching procedure

 Etching process done at moderately low pressures(50-300mtorr) and at

room temperature

 Oxide layer coating used for passivation instead of Polymeric coating

 Less Expensive
Experimental Results:

RF POWERc , Etch Ratec Oxygen Flow c , Etch Rate

 The rate presented in this figure  Increasing the oxygen flow during the
are for the etching sub cycle step leads to more passivation but
only causes etch rate to drop
 Experimental Results:

Polishing
the

surface of
the side
walls

 After etching, some roughness is observed

 To improve the side walls and surface KOH solution and Hydrofluoric-nitric-acetic acid has
been used
Conclusion:
 High Aspect Ratio

 Highly anisotropic etching

 Sequential hydrogenation/oxygenation and plasma etching of Si substrate

 Alternation between cathode and anode using toggling switch

 Does not need any intentional polymeric coating

 No need of High Density plasma

References:

 A. Sammak, S. Azimi, N. Izadi, B. K. Hosseinieh and S. Mohajerzadeh,

"Deep Vertical Etching of Silicon Wafers Using a Hydrogenation-Assisted
Reactive Ion Etching," in Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol.
16, no. 4, pp. 912-918, Aug. 2007.
 J. M. Bustillo, R. T. Howe, and R. S. Muller, “Surface micromachining for
microelectromechanical systems,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 86, no. 8, pp. 1552–
1574, Aug. 1998.
THANK YOU !!!
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