Morris B.G., Joseph P.J., May G.S
Georgia Institute of Technology, US
Keywords: reactive ion etching, resonant sensor, RIE, sacrificial material
This paper presents a sacrificial layer process using a low temperature polymer as a sacrificial material for fabricating a surface micromachined in-situ reactive ion etching (RIE) resonant sensor. The sensor monitors film thickness and etch rate in the RIE process and will ultimately facilitate closed-loop control using hardware and algorithms designed to integrate the sensor output signals with a neural network based control scheme. The low temperature sacrificial polymer process presents a straightforward alternative to existing sacrificial layer methods. There is improvement in process complexity, adhesion and resolution. The sacrificial layer technique is compatible with other surface micromachining processes and can be applied in fabricating low cost, high performance and reliable MEMS and NEMS devices.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Technical Proceedings of the 2007 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 3
Published: May 20, 2007
Pages: 9 - 12
Industry sector: Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: MEMS & NEMS Devices, Modeling & Applications
ISBN: 1-4200-6184-4