MICROMECHANICAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

1. ETCHING

Etching is a process of engraving in a metal, glass, or stone by coating it with a

protective layer, drawing on it with a needle, and then covering it with acid to attack
the parts the needle has exposed, especially in order to produce prints from it.
The types of etching are wet etching and dry etching.
The chemical etchants for silicon are classified as isotropic or anisotropic, dopant
dependent or independent and have different selectivity.
The three etchant systems considered under study are as follows:
 Ethylene Diamine, Pyrocatechol and water(EDP)
The advantage of using this combination is that it is anisotropic, making it
possible to make unique geometries. Also it can be masked on various
materials like SiO2, Si3N4, Cr, Au, etc.
It is dopant dependent and has almost zero etch rates on Si highly doped with
Boron.
 KOH and Water
This combination is orientation dependent and has high etch rates than EDP on
(110) to (111) which gives high aspect ratio grooves with very less
undercutting of masks. The disadvantage of KOH is that SiO2 is etched at a
very slow rate and therefore Si3N4 is preferred.
 HF, HNO3 and acetic acid(HNA)
This combination have varying etch rates depending on the dopant
concentrations. The masking is not as good as EDP where deep patterns are
required.
The advantages of wet etching processes include simple apparatus, high etch rate, and
high selectivity.
Wet etching is generally isotropic, resulting in undercutting. This process also requires
large amounts of etchant chemicals. The etchant chemicals have to be continuously
replaced in order to maintain a constant etch rate. Chemical and disposal costs are high.
Advantages of dry etching are its capability of automation and reduced material
consumption. Dry etching costs less to dispose of the products compared to wet etching.
A disadvantage of chemical etching techniques, (plasma etching) is that they do not
have high anisotropy. Anisotropy is when the etching occurs in one direction. This
property is useful when it is necessary to remove material only in the vertical direction
since the material covered by the masking material would not be removed.
2. ELECTROCHEMICAL ETCHING

In this type of etching, electrical contact is made on both sides of the wafer and the
wafer is immersed slowly into the solution while a constant current flows between the
positively charged silicon electrode and the negative platinum electrode.

The etchants used are HF and H2O solutions. Since H2O is not as strong an Oxidizing
agent as HNO3, very little silicon etching occurs when the current flow is zero.
Oxidation happens when a positive voltage is applied to the silicon which generates
holes in the silicon at the Si interface resulting in an accumulation of OH- in the solution
at the interface. Oxidation occurs on the surface very rapidly when the oxide is
dissolved by the HF. Holes, which are transported to the negative platinum cathode as
H+ ions release as hydrogen gas bubbles. Excess hole-electron pairs can be created at
the silicon surface by optical excitation to increase the etch rate.
It can be used for metals that cannot be etched using chemical etching. This process has
low tooling cost and has high repeatability for burr-free complex parts and thin foils
without distortion. Wafers of thickness from 0.0003” to 0.063” can be etched without
affecting their mechanical properties. These properties make it suitable for applications
like metal grids, magnetic recording heads, high density electrical connectors and jigs
for ceramic capacitors.
3. EPITAXIAL PROCESS

Epitaxy refers to a deposition of a mono crystalline film on a mono crystalline

substrate. The deposition is termed as epitaxial layer. The substrate also known as
seed is the basis for the final lattice and structure of the deposited film.
Advantage of these method is that the depth of the hole is determined by the thickness
of the epi-layer only. Thickness can be controlled accurately and measured before
etching begins. A deposition technique must have the ability to generate structures on
the order of tens or even hundreds of micrometres. Epitaxial deposition can be grown
at rates of 1 pm/min. Thus the layers even greater than 100 pm are readily achievable.
The process parameters can be accurately controlled to allow the growth of complex 3-
D patterns.
Also epitaxy provides separation of impurities into liquid phase, ability to produce very
flat surfaces with wide range of dopants and temperature.

4. THERMOMIGRATION

In thermomigration, a spot, line, or layer of a p-type dopant, such as aluminium is

deposited on a semiconductor surface which penetrates into the semiconductor body
due to the presence of a temperature gradient across the wafer body. The trails of p-
doped regions within an n-type semiconductor can be used for applications such as the
isolation of a part of a semiconductor device, the formation of conductive channels
within a silicon block, the fabrication of three-dimensional arrays for biological
applications, manufacturing of solar cells, manipulation of material properties, etc.
 Advantage of the method is that the temperature gradient applied relieves the internal
stresses. Also long and narrow holes can be etched using dopant dependent etching.

5. FIELD ASSISTED THERMAL BONDING