The combination of aligned silicon fusion bonding (SFB) with deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) is a flexible technology platform that can be used to fabricate complex multi-layer MEMS services. Silicon wafers can be processed separately and subsequently aligned and bonded and further processed. DRIE technology enables very deep (through-wafer) silicon etching with high-aspect-ratio beams and trenches (1:20), using standard resist masks. DRIE technology can be used in combination with a buried cavity, etched into the bottom substrate before boding, to fabricate a suspended microstructure. Based on this technology platform, a multi- level microfluidics board, thermal actuators, a microvalve, and a high sensitivity accelerometer have been designed, fabricated, and tested.

Date Published: 31 August 1999
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 3876, Micromachined Devices and Components V, (31 August 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.360510

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3876:
Micromachined Devices and Components V
Patrick J. French; Eric Peeters, Editor(s)