Modelling and verification of XeF₂ silicon micromachining
by George Floarea, Muthukumaran Packirisamy, Ion Stiharu
International Journal of Nanomanufacturing (IJNM), Vol. 3, No. 1/2, 2009

Abstract: In the present work, a new and computer-controlled xenon difluoride etching equipment for silicon was designed and installed. A model for the XeF₂ isotropic etching of silicon based on an atomic approach and fine tuned through pressure increase in the reaction chamber, due to formation of the reaction products, is presented. The shape of the etch features is predicted by a Matlab® code, based on the developed model. The etch depth and lateral under-etch can be calculated for a given feature and the chamber loading. The effect of concave corners is ignored in the model although the experimental results indicated a slow down etch rate at such locations. Using the designed etching equipment, experiments were carried on silicon samples with square and circular mask openings in order to validate the proposed etching model. The experimental values were compared with the theoretical ones and were found to be in good agreement.

Online publication date: Mon, 13-Jul-2009

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