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MEMSnet Home: MEMS-Talk: KOH Etching - surface roughness of v-groove surfaces
KOH Etching - surface roughness of v-groove surfaces
2004-06-16
Vipul Patel
2004-06-16
Eric Miller
2004-06-17
Kirt Williams
2004-06-17
Robert M Hamilton
KOH Etching - surface roughness of v-groove surfaces
Vipul Patel
2004-06-16
Dear MEMS experts,

I  have a need to have a mirror-like surface of the etched V-grooves (
macroscopic) using an-isotropic wet silicon etch.
When I used conventional KOH etching ( I think it was 40% sol. at 80 deg. C and
a stirrer was used), the resultant surface has several features larger than 2
micron.( I measured it by cleaving the V-groove and measuring the surface
roughness of the etched surface by dektek profilometer.)
The crystal plane was aligned to better than 0.05 deg. during lithography
process using an additional mask.
I came across several papers related to improving the surface roughness, however
being an Electrical Engineer, I do not understand chemical etching well. Our
goal is to have a surface with less than 0.1 micron peak-to-peak roughness on
macroscopic level ( across a few mm long facet)

 Can anyone suggest on what changes should I make to etch process and share
their experience?  Do I have a spec. that is not doable? Eventhough I have no
experience, I can probably also try TMAH or EDP solutions. Also, does anyone
recommend a  MEMS foundry with experience in this specific area. If they can
guarantee the spec. , I can probably give them the entire device/wafer
fabrication.

With best regards,

Vipul Patel..

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