Isotropic etch for SiO2 microcantilever release with ICP system

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system has been widely used for anisotropic silicon etching because it offers high aspect ratio with a vertical side wall. The isotropic etching capability of the ICP system, however, has not gained much attention, even though it possesses advantages in profile control and high etching rate over wet isotropic etching or conventional RIE (reactive ion etching). We report here an isotropic dry etching process to release microcantilever beams. Investigations have covered chamber pressure, plasma source power, substrate power, SF₆ (sulfur hexafluoride) flow rate relating to Si etching rate, undercutting rate, and isotropic ratio. The SiO₂ (silicon dioxide) cantilevers were successfully released from the Si substrate and the optimized silicon etching rate was 9.1 μm per minute. The etching profiles were analyzed by scanning electron micrographs (SEM).