Advanced micromachine fabrication using ion implantation

Ion-implantation followed by etching was used to fabricate micromachine components from bulk silicon. The size of the ion-modified region was sufficiently small to make microdevices (e.g. devices with submicrometer dimensions). Ion implantation/etching techniques have the advantages of high controllability, high selectivity and non-thermal processing. For 3.1 MeV gold ions implanted into silicon to a dose of 1×1017 cm−2, microcantilever beams were fabricated with a Young’s modulus of 60 GPa and a surface resistance of 36 kΩ. The elastic property was lower than conventional materials used for making microdevices, and the electrical resistance was sufficiently low that such components can be used as electrical conductors.