Properties of Silicon

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Single crystal silicon is aniostropic. The crystalline directions of interest include the <100>,
the <110>, and the <111> crystal directions. Material properties in these crystalline directions
can be calculated from basic crystal properties, and results of this analysis are shown in
Appendix A. To simplify the initial design process I assume that the silicon crystal can be
considered isotropic. Following the example of Spiering et al I choose a Young's Modulus of
150GPa, and a Poisson's ratio of 0.17 for all calculations. It is the opinion of these authors
that these isotropic values best reflect the aniostropic behavior of silicon in the <100> plane.

Young's Modulus

Poisson's Ratio

Density

150 GPa

0.17

2330 kg/m3

Thermal expansion coefficient of silicon.

The following table is extracted from data from Milek.

Temperature (K)

100

200

400

1000

-0.5

1.1

2.7

4.7

Linear Coefficient of Thermal

Expansion
-6

(10 /K)

Fracture Strength of Silicon

Since silicon used is single crystal it is assumed for all intents and purposes that the material
does not yield until fracture occurs. I assume that the design failure stress should be the
fracture strength of silicon. The fracture strength of silicon is given by Petersen as being 7000
MPa. This extremely high failure stress is contradicted by experience with anisotropically
etched diaphragms where failures stresses are estimated to be in the order of 300 MPa.
Sooriakumar tracked this discrepancy to the sharp corners introduced by aniostropic etching.
Analysis of his data shows stress concentration factors of up to 33 at the sharp corners in
aniostropically etched specimens. Rounding of the corners by isotropic etching reduced stress
concentration and increased failure load for the specimens.
It is assumed in this design process that the fracture stress of silicon is 7000 MPa, with stress
concentration factors of 33 possible at sharp corners produced by aniostropic etching.

Fracture Toughness
Silicon is a brittle material. Failure usually occurs along <111> cleavage planes. Analysis of
failure in silicon can be helped by the use of fracture mechanics models. Using these models
requires knowing the fracture toughness for the materials involved.
K1c fracture toughness values are given for different crystal directions
Silicon Direction

K1c (MPa m1/2 )

<111>

0.83 to 0.95

<100>

0.91

<110>

0.94

Polycrystalline
Silicon

0.94

Spiering, V.L., Bouwstra, S., Spiering, R., On chip decoupling zone for package-stress
reduction. Sensors and Actuators, A.39, 1993, 149-156.

Petersen, K.E., Silicon as a mechanical material, Proc. IEEE., Vol. 70, No. 5, 1982
Sooriakumar, Chan, Savage and Fugate, A comparative study of wet vs. dry isotropic
etch to strengthen silicon micro-machined pressure sensor, Electrochemical Soc.
Proc., Vol. 95-27.

Ericson, F, et al., Hardness and fracture toughness of semiconducting materials

studied by indentation and erosion techniques, Materials Science and Engineering, A
105/106 (1988) pp 131-141

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