KOH wet etching techniques for the micromachining of (100) SOI wafers

This paper describes a method by which a KOH (Potassium Hydroxide) etchant is used for the micromachining of (100) SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) wafers. Experiments carried out compare conventional wet and dry etching techniques (i.e., KOH and SF₆/He Plasma Etching) and an original aligned pattern wet etching technique, which is the focus of this paper. Results obtained indicate that the aligned pattern technique allows the micromachining of silicon via wet etching to produce results of comparable quality to those of either of the chlorine based RIE or Plasma processes