Time: 2PM EST / 11AM PST
Sponsor: Tegal Corporation
Speaker: Alissa M. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., Managing Member, AM Fitzgerald & Associates
Archive: to request a copy of the webinar slides, please email Mike Pinelis at mike@memsinvestorjournal.com
Topics include:
* Results of a brand new study on the relationship between DRIE sidewall roughness and the fracture strength of etched silicon structures
* Evaluation of three different silicon DRIE recipes
* Weibull analysis methods
* Design considerations for MEMS
* Fracture data as a process control parameter
* Fracture prediction methodology
* Evaluation of three different silicon DRIE recipes
* Weibull analysis methods
* Design considerations for MEMS
* Fracture data as a process control parameter
* Fracture prediction methodology
Webinar abstract:
Silicon deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) is an essential MEMS fabrication process technology that has enabled routine formation of the high-aspect ratio microstructures characteristic of MEMS devices such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and microphones. The deep silicon etch generally leaves behind a characteristic scalloped sidewall, with features (sidewall roughness) that can range in depth, peak-to-trough, from nanometers to microns deep. Process engineers frequently go to great efforts to develop etch recipes that minimize sidewall roughness, because conventional wisdom has it that smoother etched surfaces in deep silicon structures typically exhibit higher fracture strengths. But how smooth is smooth enough to make a MEMS device reliable?
In this webinar, AMFitzgerald and Tegal will share the results of their collaborative study performed to characterize and understand the relationship between DRIE sidewall features and the fracture strength of etched silicon structures. Three different silicon DRIE recipes with distinct sidewall roughnesses were used to etch three batches of four-point-bend specimens. The specimens were loaded to fracture and the strength distribution of each surface type was characterized using Weibull analysis. The utility of this data for assessing fitness of an etch recipe for a particular MEMS application, for monitoring process stability and tool performance during volume production and for providing valuable empirical data for fracture prediction methods will be discussed.
Speaker bio:
Dr. Alissa M. Fitzgerald is the Managing Member of AM Fitzgerald & Associates, a MEMS product development firm she founded in 2003. She has over 15 years of hands-on engineering experience in MEMS design, fabrication and product development. Dr. Fitzgerald advises clients on the entire technology development cycle, from business and IP strategy, to initial design and prototyping, all the way through to foundry transfer. She is a recognized expert on reliability of brittle materials and is active in the development of a proprietary MEMS fracture prediction tool.
She has previously been employed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Sigpro, and Sensant Corporation (acquired by Siemens). Dr. Fitzgerald received her bachelor and master degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her doctorate from Stanford University, all in the discipline of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Dr. Fitzgerald has numerous journal publications, holds two patents, and is a frequent lecturer at UC Berkeley, Stanford University and local professional group meetings. Dr. Fitzgerald also serves on the Governing Council of the MEMS Industry Group.
About the sponsor:
Tegal Corporation designs, manufactures, markets and services best-of-breed Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) systems for the fabrication of advanced MEMS, power ICs and optoelectronic devices found in products like smart phones, digital cameras and imagers, and GPS units. Tegal combines proven expertise with practical system strategies to deliver application-specific DRIE solutions that are robust and reliable, and deliver exceptional process quality and high yields at a lower overall cost of ownership. Headquartered in Petaluma, California, and with a development center in Annecy, France, Tegal has more than 35 years of expertise and innovation in specialized plasma etch technologies. For more information, please go to: http://www.tegal.com.
