(Chapter 3 Continuation)

3.5 Bulk Micromachining

In addition to planar IC processing techniques MEMS require additional techniques, such
as micromachining. In bulk micromachining, structures are shaped by etching a large
single crystal substrate. Silicon is the most widely used substrate. Silicon has a higher
strength than steel, but it is rather brittle.
Amorphous-glass substrates are bonded to other substrates to form sealed devices.
Amorphous glass is a mixture of SiO2 doped with impurities. Anodically bonded 7740
Pyrex glass matches the thermal expansion of silicon, and therefore it is the most
commonly used glass bustrate.
Quartz is the crystalline form of SiO2. Because of its high thermal stability, it is also
widely used.
Bulk micromachining is performed by etching.

3.5.1 Isotropic wet Etching

Preferred over plasma etching because of high quality of edge definition.
Factor affecting isotopic wet etching:
A. Etchant
B. Stirring Method
C. Temperature
D. Dopin Level
E. Crystal Defects
If etching is anisotropic crystal orientation is also important.
The etching rate can be diffusion-rate limited or reaction-rate limited
Etchant

Etch Mask

Reaction
Si

If diffusion-rate limited stirring would speed-up the process. If reaction-rate limited,

heating would help.
Figure 3.6
Most commonly used isotropic etch for Si:
HNO3 : HF : CH 3COOH
Nitric Acid

Hydrofluoric Acid

Acetic Acid

Figure 3.7
Usually the etch is diffusion limited
hard to etch through holes. Etches doped
regions, n+ and p+, more than intrinsic regions.
Most commonly used masks against this isotropic etch are:
Nitrides (Si3N4)
Noble metals
SiO2 (if HF ratio is low and for short etches)

3.5.2 Anisotropic Wet Etching

The etch rate is orientation dependent in the crystal.
Most commonly used ones for silicon etch <100> and <110> but not <111>.
(please review/learn Miller indices from handouts)
A. Inorganic alkaline solutions (KOH, LiOH, NaOH)
B. Organic alkaline solutions.
(ethylene diamine, pyrocatechol and water: EDP)
NH 2 (CH 2 )2 NH 2 + C 6 H 4 (OH )2 + H 2 O
(Hydrazine: N 2 H 4 / H 2O )
(NH 4OH )
Table: 3.2

<111>
<110>

<100>

EDS is optimized for fast etching rate (type F) or slow etching rate (type S)
S ~ 50 115C no solid residue left.
Reaction for <100> etching:
2
Si + 2OH + 2 H 2O SiO2 (OH )2 + 2 H 2
Reactions for <110> etching:

Si + 2 NH 2 (CH 2 )2 NH 2 + 6 H 2O Si(OH )26 + 2 NH 2 (CH 2 )NH 3+ + 2 H 2O

Si(OH )26 + 3C6 H 4 (OH ) 2 Si(C6 H 4O2 )3 + 6 H 2O

Anisotropic Etching Stops:

Boron:
To control the etching and ensure that it stops at a specified plane, etch stops are used.
Boron doped regions are etched very slowly and therefore commonly used as etch stops.
Example: 1020 Boron atoms/cm3 doping drops the etch rate by:
A factor of ~500 for EDS (type S) at 66C
A factor of ~10 for 42% KOH at 60C
both for <100> silicon.
p+ Boron etching is very effective in etching n-Si. But it causes mechanical stress
problems in the finished diaphram (residual tensile strain)
Electrochemical Etch Stop (ECE)
Use a p-n junction that is reverse baised.
+
-

metal contact

n-type diffusion
(or epi-layer)
etch mask

platinum cathode

etching solution
p-type substrate

During etching, the current through the circuit is monitored. It is basically the leakage
current of the reverse biased pn junction. When all of the p layer is etched away, the
current suddenly increases and the etch is stopped.
No high doping is required for this technique.

Etch Rates and Masks

The etch rate of EDP depends on type (S or F), temperature and crystallographic
direction. The etch rate is exponentially dependent on temperature.
R = ROe Ea / kT

Ro: pe-exponential factor

Ea: activation energy
k: Boltzmans constant
T: Temperature
The etch rate varies among <100>, <111> and <110> directions because of different
activation energies.

Etch Masks for EDP (types)

Si3N4: shows no measurable etch
SiO2: an etch selectivity of about 1:100 over Si.
Some Metals: Au, Cr, Ag, Cu

Etch masks for KOH:

The etch selectivity of <110> over <111> is much higher than EDP. Therefore KOH is
preferred over EDP to etch deep trenches in (silicon) wafers.

Etch Masks for KOH:

Si3N4 . SiO2 does not provide a good mask for kOH.

3.6 Surface Micromachining

Surface -machined structures are constructed entirely from thin films.
Why surface micromachining:
Bulk micromachined structures are generally bigger due to angling

(100)Si

54.7

Back-side is larger than front

This wastes silicon real estate.

Surface micromachining permits the fabrication of complex sensors and actuators by

stacking and patterning thin layers, whereas stacking is very difficult with bulk
micromachining.

Typical fabrication steps are presented, for a sensor and a micromotor.

3.6.1 Thin Films used in Surface Micro-machining Polycrystalline and Amorphous

silicon:
a:Si
It is particularly attractive as stress-measurement element due to its high piezo-resistive
coefficient. It is also used as a thermal sensor. (bolometer)
Sputtering technique usually yields poor a:Si. CVD and LPCVD yield polycrystaline Si
at high temperatures and a:Si at low temperatures.
SiH 4 (g ) Si(s ) + 2 H 2 (g )
PECVD can also be used, but yields only amorphous silicon.

Single Crystal Silicon

Single crystals always have a better defined structure and characteristics than
polycrystalline or amorphous thin films.
Single crystal Si cannot be chemically grown on non-crystalline substrates.
Some techniques to obtain single crystal Si films:

Wafer Bonding & Back Etching:

1. Define a p+ diffused area on the substrate.
2. Pattern and anodically bond Si to another substrate.
3. The wafer containing the diffused layer is etched from the back, leaving the heavily
doped layer intact.

Back-Etched Silicon-on-Isolator (BESOI)

1. a highly doped buried layer is formed by ion implantation.
2. The wafer is bonded to a substrate wafer coated with an insulator (SiO2)
3. Top wafer is back-etched stopping at the doped region
4. Doped region is etched

Silicon Nitride
1. Used as a mask against etchants like KOH and diffusion. It is also used as a
profectant and sealant. Must silicon nitride films are amorphous.
Can be grown using LPCVD or PECVD.
Ammonia
3SiH 2 C 2 (g ) + 4 NH 3 (g ) Si3 N 4 (s ) + 6C(g ) + 6 H 2 (g )
dichlorosilane

PECVD grown Si3N4 films are structurally weaker and might have trapped hydrogen.
LPCVD grown films are better quality.

Silicon Dioxide:
Excellent thermal and electrical insulator. Deposition techniques:
1. Reactive growth or oxidation (already covered)
2. LPCVD
heat
SiH 4 (g ) + O2 (g ) SiO2 (s ) + 2 H 2 (g )
If the film is doped with boron borosilicate glass (BSG)
If the film is doped with phosporous phosposilicate glass (PSG
3. Sputtering
4. Spin casting.

Organic Films
Most common polyimides

Usually they are spin-cast or evaporated and then cured at high temperatures.
Polyimides are used as sacrificial layers, humidity sensors.
Other polymers: hexamethyldisilazane polystyrene.
Sometimes adhesion promoters have to be used.

3.6.2 Thin-Film Etching for Surface Micromachining

Etching Si Thin Films
The same wet etchants used in bulk micromachining can be used. Or plasma etching
using CF4 or SF6 is done. F atoms are very reactive and therefore the resultant etch is
isotropic. O2(at 10% level) is used to suppress formation of polymers, which cause
contamination and deplete F atoms. Common masks to F based plasma etching are SiO2
and Si3N4.

Problems with F based etching

1. Wafer loading effect: etch rate depends on the number of wafers etched.
2. Bulls eye pattern: center of wafer is etched ot a lower rate.
Another type of plasma etching is the C based etching. C is not as reactive as F. the
reaction with silicon is initiated by bombardment. Therefore C-based etching is
anisotropic. Common masks are SiO2, photoresist, Ni, Cr.
The native oxide naturally grown on polysilicon film might hinder the etching by CC4.
In that case, the wafer might be dipped in HF prior to CC4 etching.
In addition, Bromine (Br) based etching is used. HBr gas. Anisotropic. Very highly
selective over SiO2 and photoresist. But toxic.
Etching SiO2 Thin Films
Usually done with diluted or buffered HF. PSG etches faster than thermally grown oxide
(10 times faster)
Anisotropic etch of SiO2 is performed using ion-assisted plasma etching: 1:1 combination
of C2F6 and CHF3. Selectivity over Si is good but over Si3N4 is not good.
Etching Si3N4 Thin Films
Wet etchant is H3PO4 at 140-200C. A good etch mask is CVD SiO2. Selectivity over Si
is very good.

Anisotropic etching of Si3N4 is performed using ion-assisted plasma etching: 1:1

combination of C2F6 and CHF3.

3.6.2 Sacrificial Etching

Go over the micromotor fabrication steps again.
The selectivity of sacrificial etch over Si must be very high. Commonly used materials
are PSG, polyimides and photoresist. PSG is removed using HF. Polymides are removed
using plasma etching.

3.7 Wafer Bonding

Used for building hybrid structures and sealing microsensors.

3.7.1 Anodic Bonding

Bonding between a conductive substrate (like silicon) and a sodium-rich glass substrate.

400-700
V

350-500

Si

glass

Na+ ions are

depleted here,
causing high
electric fields of
7x106 v/m across
1m.

The temperature is high enough to make Na+ ions mobile. The induced high electric field
causes a high pressure of several atmospheres. This leads to a strong bond.
Ideally, the glass and the wafer should have similar thermal expasion coefficients.
Corning glass 7740 is best for Si. This glass can be sputtered into Si, allowing anodic
bondig of two silicon wafers.
High temperatures can lead to damage in IC circuitry.

3.7.2 Low temperature Glass Bonding

First the wafer surface is coated with a thin layer of low-temperature glass. The wafers
are brought under pressure together and heated. No electric field is required. PSG, BSG,
glass frits, spin-on glass slurries.
Glass frits are combinations of metal oxides in paste form. Under pressure, they fill in
gaps and planarize the wafer surface. The bond forms when the frit is cured by heating.
(300-600C)

3.7.3 Fusion Bonding

The wafers are fused together at very high temperatures (1000C-1500C)
First the wafers are pressed together, heated until the surfaces bond by Van Der Waal
forces.
Fusion bonding requires very clean and flat surfaces, but produces excellent bonds.

3.7.4 Reactive Bonding

Reaction bonding of Si and Si. Usually no intermediate layer is required, but oxide-free
surfaces are required.
There is also reactive metal bonding, where a thin layer of metal is sandwiched between
Si wafers. When heated, eutectic alloy forms containing Si and the metal. Gold is
widely used for this purpose. The temperature for formation of Au/Si eutectic alloy is
about 360C. Again oxide-free surfaces are required.

3.7.5 Polymer Bonding

This is great for bonding requirements where low temperature is desired. Polyimides,
epoxies and other polymers are used as gloves. The resultant bond is usually not high
quality and suffers from aging.