Ultra-short pulsed laser deposition and patterning of SiC thin films for MEMS fabrication

A Ti:Sapphire (IR 800-nm) femtosecond (fs) pulsed laser was used to ablate a sputtering grade of silicon carbide (SiC) in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. The laser-induced plasma species were then driven and grown to form 3C-SiC films of about I pm thick on single crystal silicon wafers at 20 degrees C (room temperature) and 500 degrees C. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nanoindentation were used to characterize the structure, composition, thickness and properties of the SiC films. Results of the femtosecond-pulse laser deposited (fs-PLD) films were compared with those obtained by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) and nanosecond-pulse laser (excimer laser at 248-nm) deposition (ns-PLD). The distinctive features of fs-PLD films are their extremely smooth surfaces, stoichiometry, amorphous structure and low defect density compared to APCVD films, along with better film quality and higher growth rates than ns-PLD films. In addition to film growth studies, a SiC microgripper (to grab 20-mu m-sized objects) was micromachined by use of the fs-pulsed laser to demonstrate the utility of ultra-short PLD in SiC-device fabrication. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.