Universidad de las Amricas Puebla Introduccin a lo Sistemas Microelectromecnicos (MEMS) Nombre. Adriana Sierra Romero ID.

141662 Surface Micromachining for Microelectromechanical Systems The research on anisotropic single-crystalline silicon processing began on 1960. Twenty years later, the understanding of the micromechanical properties of this material was improved with the development of thin-film deposition and the beginning of the integration of MOS electronics. It was until the early 90s that research capital allowed the fabrication of MEMS technology using silicon micromachining and IC processing. One of the first techniques that allowed silicon manipulation was surface micromachining. This process is based upon photolithography and chemical processing steps that modify the properties and define the geometry of a silicon substrate. This is known as the planar process and it is the responsible of the miniaturization of electronic IC devices. During the last years we can differentiate between two methods that enable us to produce mechanical devices: substrate micromachining and surface micromachining (with a different approach to the one described previously). The first one refers to the anisotropic etching of the silicon substrate while the second one to the use of films to make mechanical parts above the surface of the substrate. As it will be explained the use of sacrificial layers is fundamental for surface micromachining. Since 1980 several laboratories around the world have developed silicon microstructures such as pressure sensors, microphotonic structures, pin joints and springs, actuators based on electrostatic forces, comb-drive actuators, microvibromotors, foldout structures among many others. Processes have been improved to build todays technology and actual tendencies that are leading to three-dimensional structures. The article discusses specific points; it is focused on describing the process steps of surface micromachining and the general characteristics of the technology. Some of the concepts that are considered are the sacrificial layer, three dimension micromachining, connections between plates or wafers, deposited thin films, etching processes and packaging technology. Three perspectives are considered for micromechanical fabrication: post-CMOS implementation, interleaved fabrication and pre-CMOS microstructure fabrication. The article also explains advantages and disadvantages of silicon. In 1982, scientists and engineers began thinking of thin-film polycrystalline silicon as a mechanical material. They noticed that its properties vary according deposition conditions, grainsize effects and other sources. This fact made its characterization more difficult to complete. With the apparition of MEMS they discovered that silicon Youngs modulus depends upon direction, that its Knoop hardness is twice that of iron and it shows a high tensile stress which make it vulnerable to brittle and fractures.

For mechanical applications, polycrystalline silicon is usually deposited in a silane LPCVD at a temperature between 585 and 625C. It can be doped with phosphine or diborane. It can be said that we own an extensive knowledge on silicon electrical properties since it has been used as gate electrode in MOSFET devices. Polysilicon can be used to fabricate micromechanical devices in a few steps. The process to create a lateral resonator is described in four simple steps: 1) The substrate is passivated and a connection between the substrate and a future microstructure is deposited and patterned. 2) A PSG (phosphosilicate glass) sacrificial layer is deposited and patterned. 3) A polysilicon structural layer is deposited, doped and annealed. The top PSG layer is stripped and the polysilicon is patterned by RIE. 4) The sacrificial layer is dissolved with HF. The wafer is rinsed and finally dried. The objective of fully integrated MEMS is to reduce size and noise in what is called a monolithic process. To achieve this integration technology, designers can place the mechanical structure fabrication before, after or during the electrical fabrication steps. The main problems of this approach are the materials and process incompatibilities, mainly temperature. Some techniques that minimize these disadvantages include passivation of the circuits using LPCVD PSG and silicon nitride. Noise can be reduced by burying the mechanical and/or electric layers in a sealed trench. To design a micromechanical structures we must be able to predict its mechanical properties. In the previously designed resonator we must consider that the resultant motion (derived from electrostatic forces) can be sensed as a capacitor which means that the flexures in the structure must be modeled considering not only the dimensions but any residual stress (that can generate an axial load) and the desired resonant frequency. The residual stress refers to the stress that can cause buckling or folding in thin structures. At UC Berkeley, for example, they have developed a technique that processes polysilicon at high pressure and rapid deposition rates. This technique has been used to fabricate cantilevers with minimum residual stress. It also has been demonstrated that postdeposition thermal anneals, a correct design and process conditions can mitigate the effects of stress gradients. Due to the crystallites that form polysilicon the Youngs modulus varies across the sample and from sample to sample making the design much more difficult. Recent work at UC Berkeley, John Hopkins University and the Technical University of Berlin shows that through annealing processes the Youngs modulus can range from 140 to 190 GPa. Density may also vary because of the polysilicon microstructure, but information concerning this has not been reported. The structure dimensions affect the resonant frequency, as in the case of a cantilever. This is explained by the fact that the mass is proportional to the thickness of the film, which at the same time varies with lateral dimensions. It is clear that dimensions can cause large changes in the resonant frequency while it is meant to be fixed exactly. Fortunately, polysilicon is a very stable material. After a couple of years of operation, the frequency does not change significantly making it suitable for sensing devices.

Micromachining faces some problems related to inaccuracies and reproducibility. This situation forces to perform electrical and mechanical adjustments. Resonant frequencies can be adjusted by modifying anchor compliance, laser techniques can remove mass from a resonator, flexures can be reduced by etching or annealing, capacitors can null mechanical asymmetriesthese are just some examples of how we can calibrate the final system. As it was mentioned before, one of the basic concepts in surface micromachining is the sacrificial layer. This layer allows to build three dimensional structures by adding parts above the substrate (such as a cantilever). Once we want to remove it we usually use a wet etching agent, HF for example. Nevertheless this is not always a good idea because of the capillary forces, which can be stronger than electrostatic or van der Waals forces. As this force increases the result can lead to the collapse and adhesion of the microstructure; this phenomena is known as stiction. Many techniques have been developed to decrease the effects of capillary forces. the most common is the surface modification of layers underneath the microstructures. These protection methods include among others, fluorinated SAMs and polymeric coatings and supercritical drying processes (not wet). SAM coating is the most promising protection, it uses long-chain hydrocarbon alkyl molecules with a chlorinated silicon head group and consists of four steps: 1) Hydration of the substrate, 2) Hydrolisis of the head group, 3) Bonding of the SAM through the head group and 4) Cross linking at the head group to form siloxane at the surface. Three-dimensional microstructures can be described more accurately as laminar. That is why vertical assembly of MEMS is an important advance to achieve a fully 3D fabrication. An example of this kind of vertical structures is a Fresnel lens, which was erected using hinge structures and locked on the substrate in a non-horizontal position. Another way to get similar assemblies is using deep-etch patterns as in the case of the so called HexSil process. The steps of it include: deep silicon etching, sacrificial layer deposition, structural layer deposition, an optional polish and the release and extract of the part. It is easy to conclude that we need to achieve controlled conditions for a successful surface micromachining. Success will depend mainly in the materials that are use. Metals were the earliest midpoint because of their good optical and electric properties as well as their ease of processing. Some important metals for MEMS applications are tungsten, nickel, copper and iron. Sacrificial materials range among organic photoresists, polyimides and parylene. Nevertheless, silicon nitride and oxide are the best options for sacrifice layers. The final step in MEMS fabrication is packaging and encapsulation. It is a fundamental stage since MEMS are susceptible to damage and contamination. This final process is done in a cleanroom through different methods, for example: silicon-to-silicon fusion, glass-to-silicon anodic bonding or vacuum sealing. In some cases, electrical interconnection is performed after the encapsulation through thin-film feedthroughs. One area that is being studied is the microassembly process with an approach toward hybrid structures. This raises the possibility to separate the fabrication of MEMS and CMOS with the same advantages of monolithic technologies. If we were able to transfer structures from one

wafer to another in an effective manner we would forget about compatibility problems between the electric and mechanical fabrication. Since the early 1980s, engineers and designers have attempted to integrate mechanical, electrical, optical and more technologies in microstructures. That is why the development of surface micromachining and complementary techniques, as well as the understanding of the properties at micro and in some cases nano scale are fundamental for MEMS improvement. Bibliography Bustillo, J., et.al. (1998). Surface Micromachining for Microelectromechanical Systems. Proceedings of the IEEE. 86: 8, pp. 1552-1574.