Process Hierarchy

If you are interested in this process, either by itself or as part of a longer processing sequence, please send us email at engineering@mems-exchange.org or call us at (703) 262-5368
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  Xenon difluoride (XeF2) Isotropic Si etch
Process characteristics:
Depth
Depth of material removed by etch process
Depth*
Depth of material removed by etch process, must be 0 .. 700 µm
0 .. 700 µm
Total exposed area
Total exposed silicon area at the beginning of the XeF2 etch
Total exposed area
Total exposed silicon area at the beginning of the XeF2 etch, must be 0 .. 7500 mm2
0 .. 7500 mm2
Ambient
Ambient to which substrate is exposed during processing
 nitrogen, xenon difluoride
Batch size 1
Etch rate 0 .. 10 µm/min
Material silicon
Pressure
Pressure of process chamber during processing
 5 mTorr
Selectivity
Primary material removal rate divided by removal rates of secondary materials (i.e., factors by which primary material is removed faster than secondary materials)
 silicon: 1
Setup time 45 min
Sides processed either
Wafer size
Wafer size
Equipment Xenon Difluoride Etching System
Equipment characteristics:
Wafer holder
Device that holds the wafers during processing.
 aluminum plate
Wafer materials
List of wafer materials this tool can accept (not list of all materials, just the wafer itself).
 silicon
Wafer thickness
List or range of wafer thicknesses the tool can accept
 200 .. 1000 µm
Comments:
  • Assumptions on the cost calculation above are
    total exposed silicon area: 100mm2
    etch depth: 50um
  • Isotropic etch of Si using XeF2 vapor. Lot size of 1 refers to 4" wafers; multiple smaller wafer pieces may be accommodated simultaneously.