Lithography and Etching-Free Microfabrication of Silicon Carbide on Insulator Using Direct UV Laser Ablation

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Author(s)
Tuan-Khoa, Nguyen
Hoang-Phuong, Phan
Dowling, Karen M
Yalamarthy, Ananth Saran
Toan, Dinh
Balakrishnan, Vivekananthan
Liu, Tanya
Chapin, Caitlin A
Quoc-Dung, Truong
Van, Thanh Dau
Goodson, Kenneth E
Senesky, Debbie G
Dzung, Viet Dao
Nam-Trung, Nguyen
Year published
2020
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Show full item recordAbstract
Silicon carbide (SiC)-based microsystems are promising alternatives for silicon-based counterparts in a wide range of applications aiming at conditions of high temperature, high corrosion, and extreme vibration/shock. However, its high resistance to chemical substances makes the fabrication of SiC particularly challenging and less cost-effective. To date, most SiC micromachining processes require time-consuming and high-cost SiC dry-etching steps followed by metal wet etching, which slows down the prototyping and characterization process of SiC devices. This work presents a lithography and etching-free microfabrication for ...
View more >Silicon carbide (SiC)-based microsystems are promising alternatives for silicon-based counterparts in a wide range of applications aiming at conditions of high temperature, high corrosion, and extreme vibration/shock. However, its high resistance to chemical substances makes the fabrication of SiC particularly challenging and less cost-effective. To date, most SiC micromachining processes require time-consuming and high-cost SiC dry-etching steps followed by metal wet etching, which slows down the prototyping and characterization process of SiC devices. This work presents a lithography and etching-free microfabrication for 3C-SiC on insulator-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. In particular, a direct laser ablation technique to replace the conventional lithography and etching processes to form functional SiC devices from 3C-SiC-on-glass wafers is used. Utilizing a single line-cutting mode, both metal contact shapes and SiC microstructures can be patterned simultaneously with a remarkably fast speed of over 20 cm s−1. As a proof of concept, several SiC microdevices, including temperature sensors, strain sensors, and microheaters, are demonstrated, showing the potential of the proposed technique for rapid and reliable prototyping of SiC-based MEMS.
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View more >Silicon carbide (SiC)-based microsystems are promising alternatives for silicon-based counterparts in a wide range of applications aiming at conditions of high temperature, high corrosion, and extreme vibration/shock. However, its high resistance to chemical substances makes the fabrication of SiC particularly challenging and less cost-effective. To date, most SiC micromachining processes require time-consuming and high-cost SiC dry-etching steps followed by metal wet etching, which slows down the prototyping and characterization process of SiC devices. This work presents a lithography and etching-free microfabrication for 3C-SiC on insulator-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. In particular, a direct laser ablation technique to replace the conventional lithography and etching processes to form functional SiC devices from 3C-SiC-on-glass wafers is used. Utilizing a single line-cutting mode, both metal contact shapes and SiC microstructures can be patterned simultaneously with a remarkably fast speed of over 20 cm s−1. As a proof of concept, several SiC microdevices, including temperature sensors, strain sensors, and microheaters, are demonstrated, showing the potential of the proposed technique for rapid and reliable prototyping of SiC-based MEMS.
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Journal Title
Advanced Engineering Materials
Volume
22
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Wiley-Liss, Inc. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Lithography and Etching‐Free Microfabrication of Silicon Carbide on Insulator Using Direct UV Laser Ablation , Advanced Engineering Materials, 2020, 22 (4), pp. 1901173:1-1901173:7, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201901173. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving (http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-828039.html)
Subject
Materials engineering
Electronic sensors
Nanotechnology
Nanomaterials
Science & Technology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Materials Science
force sensors