Fabrication of Si structures with vertical side-walls using single long plasma etch
Conference
Agarwal, R, Samson, S, Bhansali, S. (2006). Fabrication of Si structures with vertical side-walls using single long plasma etch
. SENSORS, ACTUATORS, AND MICROSYSTEMS GENERAL SESSION, 2(25), 19-26. 10.1149/1.2409014
Agarwal, R, Samson, S, Bhansali, S. (2006). Fabrication of Si structures with vertical side-walls using single long plasma etch
. SENSORS, ACTUATORS, AND MICROSYSTEMS GENERAL SESSION, 2(25), 19-26. 10.1149/1.2409014
A new approach to etch structures with vertical sidewalls in Si is presented. This process reduces the loading effect in Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) and maintains uniform etch profile and etch rate through out the wafer. Rectangular areas were patterned under the regions to be removed. Uniform width channels encompassing these rectangular patterns were then subjected to long DRIE. These uniform width narrow channels maintain uniform etch rates while patterning structures with various fill factors on the same wafer. Average side wall angles of 89.8° were obtained with just 0.3° variation across the 4" Si wafer. The process showed resistance to slight variations in DRIE parameters with negligible effect on the sidewall profile. The etched vertical mirrors are used to assemble a Corner Cube Retroreflector. copyright The Electrochemical Society.
