Fabrication of a Si lever structure made by double-angled etching with reactive gas cluster injection

Abstract

The reactive gas cluster injection process is an etching method that uses a neutral cluster beam without plasma. Low-damage Si etching can be realized with this method because of the very low irradiation energy; the product is free of charge-up problems and vacuum UV light damage. The ClF3–Ar neutral cluster injection system for angled etching was constructed with a nozzle that was placed at 45° from the sample normal. The angled anisotropic Si etching is demonstrated with a high aspect ratio. The lever structure, which is often used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs), was fabricated by double-angled etching with reactive gas cluster injection. A simple fabrication process for the lever structure was achieved by double-angled etching with reactive gas cluster injection. These results show that various three-dimensional (3D) structures can be fabricated by repeated anisotropic etching with varying angles and directions. It is expected that the angled anisotropic etching process will enable the creation of unprecedented structures for use in MEMSs or photonic crystals.