SU8 resist plasma etching and its optimisation

Author

Hong, Guodong ; Holmes, Andrew S. ; Heaton, Mark E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Imperial Coll., London, UK

fYear

2003

fDate

5-7 May 2003

Firstpage

268

Lastpage

271

Abstract

The thick photoresist SU8, by virtue of its good mechanical durability, water impermeability and dielectric properties on polymerisation, is widely used as a resin for making high aspect ratio, functional MEMS device structures and packaging parts. However, the difficulty associated with removal, stripping or repatterning of the polymerised SU8 remains a serious issue. This paper presents a novel process, based on O₂/SF₆ plasma etching, for patterning or removal of fully cross-linked SU8. The Taguchi methodology is used to optimise the O₂/SF₆ mix for a high etch rate and low under cut.

Keywords

Taguchi methods; dielectric devices; dielectric materials; durability; micromechanical devices; photoresists; resins; sputter etching; O₂/SF₆ plasma etching; SU8 resist plasma etching rate; Taguchi methodology; cross-linked SU8; dielectric properties; functional MEMS device structure; mechanical durability; photoresist; resin; Dielectric devices; Etching; Mechanical factors; Plasma applications; Plasma devices; Plasma properties; Polymers; Resins; Resists; Water;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Design, Test, Integration and Packaging of MEMS/MOEMS 2003. Symposium on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7066-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/DTIP.2003.1287050

Filename

1287050