Planar silicon fabrication process for high-aspect-ratio micromachined parts
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States). Microelectronics Development Lab.
Surface-micromachined silicon inertial sensors are limited to relatively high-G applications in part because of the fundamental limitations on proof mass imposed by the manufacturing technology. At the same time, traditional micromolding technologies such as LIGA do not lend themselves to integration with electronics, a capability which is equally necessary for high-performance inertial sensors. The silicon micromolding processes described in this report promise to offer both larger proof masses and integrability with on-chip electronics. In Sandia`s silicon micromolding process, the proof mass is formed using a mold which is first recessed into the substrate using a deep silicon trench etch, then lined with a sacrificial or etch-stop layer, and filled with mechanical polysilicon. Since the mold is recessed into the substrate, the whole micromechanical structure can be formed, planarized, and integrated with standard silicon microelectronic circuits before the release etch. In addition, unlike surface-micromachined parts, the thickness of the molded parts is limited by the depth of the trench etch (typically 10--50 {micro}m) rather than the thickness of deposited polysilicon (typically 2 {micro}m). The fact that the high-aspect-ratio section of the device is embedded in the substrate enables the monolithic integration of high-aspect-ratio parts with surface-micromachined mechanical parts, and, in the future, also electronics. The authors anticipate that such an integrated mold/surface micromachining/electronics process will offer versatile high-aspect-ratio micromachined structures that can be batch-fabricated and monolithically integrated into complex microelectromechanical systems including high-performance inertial sensing systems.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 537377
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-97-2331; ON: DE98000223; BR: DP0102022; TRN: AHC29722%%142
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Sep 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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