Etch characteristics of KOH, TMAH and dual doped TMAH for bulk micromachining of silicon

High precision bulk micromachining of silicon is a key process step to shape spatial structures for fabricating different type of microsensors and microactuators. A series of etching experiments have been carried out using KOH, TMAH and dual doped TMAH at different etchant concentrations and temperatures wherein silicon, silicon dioxide and aluminum etch rates together with < 100 > silicon surface morphology and < 111 >/< 100 > etch rate ratio have been investigated in each etchant. A comparative study of the etch rates and etched silicon surface roughness at different etching ambient is also presented. From the experimental studies, it is found that etch rates vary with variation of etching ambient. The concentrations that maximize silicon etch rate is 3% for TMAH and 22 wt.% for KOH. Aluminum etch rate is high in KOH and undoped TMAH but negligible in dual doped TMAH. Silicon dioxide etch rate is higher in KOH than in TMAH and dual doped TMAH solutions. The < 111 >/< 100 > etch rate ratio is highest in TMAH compared to the other two etchants whereas smoothest etched silicon surface is achieved using dual doped TMAH. The study reveals that dual doped TMAH solution is a very attractive CMOS compatible silicon etchant for commercial MEMS fabrication which has superior characteristics compared to other silicon etchants. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.