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Control of Trenching and Surface Roughness in Deep Reactive Ion Etched 4H and 6H SiC

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Glenn M. Beheim  and
Laura J. Evans
Glenn M. Beheim
Affiliation:
beheim@grc.nasa.gov, NASA Glenn Research Center, MS 77-1, 21000 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, OH, 44135, United States, 216-433-3847, 216-433-8643
Laura J. Evans
Affiliation:
laura.j.evans@nasa.gov, NASA Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Rd, Cleveland, OH, 44135, United States
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Abstract

An optimized deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process for the fabrication of SiC microstructures has been developed. The optimized process enables the etching of 4H and 6H SiC to depths > 100 microns with the required characteristics of (1) high rate (>0.5 microns/min), (2) vertical sidewalls, (3) minimal microtrenching at the sidewall base, and (4) smooth etched surfaces. The optimized process was determined based on the results of an experiment (full factorial design) which determined how the etch characteristics are affected by four important process parameters: temperature of the wafer chuck, pressure within the chamber, and concentrations of O2 and Ar in a gas flow comprised of O2, Ar and SF6. This study is believed to be the first systematic investigation of the effect of temperature on SiC DRIE characteristics; substrate heating was found to be a key in producing the desired etch properties.

Keywords

reactive ion etchingmicroelectro-mechanical (MEMS)semiconducting
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 911: Symposium B – Silicon Carbide 2006 – Materials, Processing and Devices , 2006 , 0911-B10-15
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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References

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2 Beheim, G. and Evans, L., “Deep Reactive Ion Etching for Bulk Micromachining of Silicon Carbide”, ibid, pp. 8–1 to 8.Google Scholar
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