A surface micromachining technique of LiNbO₃ substrates, based on an improved implantation-assisted wet etching process, will be presented and discussed. 2.3 μm high relief structures with optical quality surfaces were fabricated on LiNbO₃ by 5 MeV Cu ion implantation through an SU-8 10 μm thick photoresist masking layer patterned by a standard photolithographic process. The LiNbO₃ regions amorphized by implantation were etched in a 49% HF aqueous solution at a rate of 100 nm/s exploiting the high differential etching rate between damaged and undamaged LiNbO₃ (100 nm/s against 1 nm/s). The process can be repeated to obtain higher aspect ratios. In this work the results of both single and double step processes will be presented. The sidewalls morphology of the microstructures will be also discussed. Both the surface quality and features of the manufactured structures make this technology highly promising for integrated optics and acousto/opto-fluidics.

Date Published: 9 March 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8612, Micromachining and Microfabrication Process Technology XVIII, 86120E (9 March 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2002095

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8612:
Micromachining and Microfabrication Process Technology XVIII
Mary Ann Maher; Paul J. Resnick, Editor(s)