ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon

The utilization of a newly developed photosensitive polymeric coating, ProTEK PSB plays a signiﬁcant role in realizing simple process steps in the fabrication of MEMS devices using bulk micromachining technology. The photosensitive coating which serves as an alternative to the conventional silicon...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin, Bais, Badariah, Yeop Majlis, Burhanuddin, Sugandi, Gandi
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Springer 2013
Subjects:	T Technology (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/1/Microsystem_Technologies_published_version_APRIL_2013.pdf

id	iium-30323
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-303232013-07-30T02:31:36Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin Bais, Badariah Yeop Majlis, Burhanuddin Sugandi, Gandi T Technology (General) The utilization of a newly developed photosensitive polymeric coating, ProTEK PSB plays a signiﬁcant role in realizing simple process steps in the fabrication of MEMS devices using bulk micromachining technology. The photosensitive coating which serves as an alternative to the conventional silicon nitride mask of bulk potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching in devising MEMS devices, particularly in suspended microcantilever structure, is reported in this study. Although the polymeric coating ProTEK PSB acts as an excellent outer protective layer from any pinhole issues, the coating’s lateral etching in the KOH solution is dominant, which results in an undercut problem. Therefore, few investigations have been carried out to identify the most suitable condition for the ProTEK PSB deposition on Si substrate. Initial investigation was done on the effect of Si surface modiﬁcation on the stability of the ProTEK PSB in KOH etching. It was observed that the surface treatment may reduce the undercut ratio for a short period of KOH etching. However, for the extended hours, the surface treatment is not effective enough to improve the stability of the polymeric coating. Therefore, combinations of ProTEK PSB on three substrates were studied in order to obtain a minimum undercut to etch depth ratio of the polymeric coating in KOH bulk etching. The study showed that the combination of ProTEK PSB patterned on thermal oxide results in the most effective etching condition attributed by minimum undercut ratio. Further investigation was carried out on the effect of the KOH etching concentration on the stability of the ProTEK PSB coating over the long hours of bulk etching process. Three concentrations of KOH etchants, KOH 20 wt%,KOH 45 wt% and KOH with isopropyl alcohol (KOH+IPA) were investigated. The results showed that the stability of the polymeric coating was excellent in KOH 20 wt% concentration with a very minimal undercut ratio of 0.05–0.07. In conclusion, the utilization of the polymeric coating ProTEK PSB serves as an alternative etch mask in KOH wet etching which offers simpler and cheaper device fabrication in bulk micromachining technology. Springer 2013-04-03 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/1/Microsystem_Technologies_published_version_APRIL_2013.pdf Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin and Bais, Badariah and Yeop Majlis, Burhanuddin and Sugandi, Gandi (2013) ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon. Microsystem Technologies, 19 (6). pp. 905-914. ISSN 0946-7076 (Print), 1432-1858 (Online) http://link.springer.com/ 10.1007/s00542-013-1794-z
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	T Technology (General)
spellingShingle	T Technology (General) Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin Bais, Badariah Yeop Majlis, Burhanuddin Sugandi, Gandi ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon
description	The utilization of a newly developed photosensitive polymeric coating, ProTEK PSB plays a signiﬁcant role in realizing simple process steps in the fabrication of MEMS devices using bulk micromachining technology. The photosensitive coating which serves as an alternative to the conventional silicon nitride mask of bulk potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching in devising MEMS devices, particularly in suspended microcantilever structure, is reported in this study. Although the polymeric coating ProTEK PSB acts as an excellent outer protective layer from any pinhole issues, the coating’s lateral etching in the KOH solution is dominant, which results in an undercut problem. Therefore, few investigations have been carried out to identify the most suitable condition for the ProTEK PSB deposition on Si substrate. Initial investigation was done on the effect of Si surface modiﬁcation on the stability of the ProTEK PSB in KOH etching. It was observed that the surface treatment may reduce the undercut ratio for a short period of KOH etching. However, for the extended hours, the surface treatment is not effective enough to improve the stability of the polymeric coating. Therefore, combinations of ProTEK PSB on three substrates were studied in order to obtain a minimum undercut to etch depth ratio of the polymeric coating in KOH bulk etching. The study showed that the combination of ProTEK PSB patterned on thermal oxide results in the most effective etching condition attributed by minimum undercut ratio. Further investigation was carried out on the effect of the KOH etching concentration on the stability of the ProTEK PSB coating over the long hours of bulk etching process. Three concentrations of KOH etchants, KOH 20 wt%,KOH 45 wt% and KOH with isopropyl alcohol (KOH+IPA) were investigated. The results showed that the stability of the polymeric coating was excellent in KOH 20 wt% concentration with a very minimal undercut ratio of 0.05–0.07. In conclusion, the utilization of the polymeric coating ProTEK PSB serves as an alternative etch mask in KOH wet etching which offers simpler and cheaper device fabrication in bulk micromachining technology.
format	Article
author	Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin Bais, Badariah Yeop Majlis, Burhanuddin Sugandi, Gandi
author_facet	Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin Bais, Badariah Yeop Majlis, Burhanuddin Sugandi, Gandi
author_sort	Ab Rahim, Rosminazuin
title	ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon
title_short	ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon
title_full	ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon
title_fullStr	ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon
title_full_unstemmed	ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon
title_sort	protek psb coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for koh bulk etching of silicon
publisher	Springer
publishDate	2013
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/30323/1/Microsystem_Technologies_published_version_APRIL_2013.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:44:28Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:44:28Z
_version_	1777409582033797120

ProTEK PSB coating as an alternative polymeric protection mask for KOH bulk etching of silicon

Similar Items