A dicing-free SOI process for MEMS devices based on the lag effect

作者：Xie, J.^*; Hao, Y.; Shen, Q.; Chang, H.; Yuan, W.

来源：Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 2013, 23(12): 125033.

DOI：10.1088/0960-1317/23/12/125033

• RELEASE PROCESS
• STICTION

This paper presents a dicing-free process for silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). In the process, the lag effect in deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) is used to form the breaking trenches. In the backside DRIE, the wide backside cavities are etched down to the buried oxide layer. The narrow breaking trenches, in contrast, are not etched to the buried oxide layer. Therefore, the narrow trench can be used to break the wafer after the entire process; in addition, the handle layer can still act as a bracing structure before 'breaking'. Finally, the device layer is patterned, and a DRIE step is used to form the MEMS devices. In this way, the dicing step can be omitted to prevent further damages from high pressure water jets and silicon dust. Meanwhile, the process can also prevent notching simply because the insulating layer is removed before device etching. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed fabrication process, a micromachined gyroscope is designed and fabricated.

• 出版日期2013-12
• 单位西北工业大学