Lee, Hyun-Ki;Han, Seung-Oh;Park, Jung-Ho;Lee, Cheon
396
In this study, $Ar^+$ ion laser etching process of single/poly-crystalline Si with $CCl_2F_2$ gas is investigated for MEMS applications. In general, laser direct etching process is useful in microelectronic process, fabrication of micro sensors and actuators, rapid prototyping, and complementary processing because of the advantages of 3D micromachining, local etching/deposition process, and maskless process with high resolution. In this study, a pyrolytic method, in which $CCl_2F_2$ gasetches molten Si by the focused laser, was used. In order to analyze the temperature profile of Si by the focused laser, the 3D heat conduction equation was analytically solved. In order to investigate the process parameters dependence of etching characteristics, laser power, $CCl_2F_2$ gas pressure, and scanning speed were varied and the experimental results were observed by SEM. The aspect ratio was measured in multiple scanning and the simple 3D structure was fabricated. In addition, the etching characteristics of $6\mum$ thick poly-crystalline Si on the insulator was investigated to obtain flat bottom and vertical side wall for MEMS applications.