Deepu, BR and Venkatachalam, P and Mirji, FN and Littin, V and Naveen, H and Savitha, P and Basavaraju, YB (2020) A Surface Micromachining: HNA Etchant for Stiction-free Release of Micro/Nanomechanical Structures. In: Materials Today: Proceedings, 42 . pp. 1218-1223.
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Abstract
We report a simple and efficient silicon wet etchant HNA (Hydrofluoric acid, Nitric acid, Acetic acid) for the stiction free release of silicon nitride/metal micro/nanomechanical structures. The HNA concentration was varied with the aim of developing a slow etch rate, which could be utilized to suspend the micron and sub-micron cantilever and fixed beam structures. The etch rate was found to decrease with decrease in HF and increase in HNO3concentrations. Smooth surface and high selectivity are obtained in case of high HNO3content. The obtained etchant with a slow etch rate of 440 nm/minute was successfully utilized for the release of silicon nitride cantilevers and fixed beam structures of 500 nm, 2 µm and 5 µm widths with varying lengths. The resonance frequency of suspended cantilevers characterized by Laser Doppler Vibrometer is in close agreement with the COMSOL simulated resonating frequencies proving that the etching process has been precise without changes to cantilever dimensions. In addition, the generated etchant was successfully used in releasing chrome/gold nanobeams as well without any damage to the metal layers. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
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| Publication: | Materials Today: Proceedings |
| Publisher: | Elsevier Ltd |
| Additional Information: | The copyright for this article belongs to the Author(s). |
| Keywords: | Classifiers; Doppler effect; Laser Doppler velocimeters; Nanocantilevers; Natural frequencies; Silicon nitride; Stiction; Surface micromachining; Wet etching, Beam structures; Etch rates; Fixed beam; Hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid; Laser Doppler vibrometers; Micro-structures; Nanomechanical structure; Resonance frequencies; Simple++; Surface micro-machining, Hydrofluoric acid |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences > Centre for Nano Science and Engineering |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jan 2023 06:31 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2023 06:31 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/79251 |
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