• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.263-268
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• 2001

This paper describes the effects of applied bias conditions on electrochemical etch-stop characteristics. THere are a number of key issues such as diode leakage and ohmic losses which arise when applying the conventional 3-electrochemical etch-stop to fabricated some of he MEMS(microelectro mechanical system) and SOI(Si-on-insulator) structures which employ SDB(Si-wafer direct bonding). This work allows to perform anin situ diagnostic to predict whether or not an electrochemical etch-stop would fail due to diode-leakage-induced premature passivation. In addition, it presents technology which takes into account the effects of ohmic losses and allows to calculate the appropriate bias necessary to obtain a successful electrochemical etch-stop.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2000년도 춘계학술대회 논문집 전자세라믹스 센서 및 박막재료 반도체재료 일렉트렛트 및 응용기술
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• pp.147-151
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• 2000

This paper presents the electrochemical etch-stop characteristics of single-crystal silicon in a tetramethyl ammonium hyciroxide(TMAH):isopropyl alcohol(IPA):pyrazine solution. Addition of pyrazine to a TMAH:IPA etchant increases the etch-rate of (100) silicon, thus the elapsed time for etch-stop was shortened. The current-voltage(I-V) characteristics of n- and p-type silicon in a TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solution were obtained, respectively. Open circuit potential(OCP) and passivation potential(PP) of n- and p-type silicon, respectively, were obtained and applied potential was selected between n- and p-type silicon PP. The electrochemical etch-stop is applied to the fabrication of 801 microdiaphragms having $20\;{\mu}m$ thickness on a 5-inch silicon wafer. The averge thicknesses of 801 microdiaphragms fabricated on the one wafer were $20.03\;{\mu}m$ and standard deviation was ${\pm}0.26{\mu}m$. The silicon surface of the etch-stopped microdiaphragm was extremely flat without noticeable taper or other nonuniformities. The benefits of the electrochemical etch-stop in a TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solution become apparent when reproducibility in the microdiaphragm thickness for mass production is considered. These results indicate that the electrochemical etch-stop in a TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solution provides a powerful and versatile alternative process for fabricating high-yield silicon microdiaphragms.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2000년도 영호남학술대회 논문집
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• pp.7-12
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• 2000

This paper presents the electrochemical etch-stop characteristics of single-crystal silicon in a tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide(TMAH):isopropyl alcohol(IPA):pyrazine solution. Addition of pyrazine to a TMAH:IPA etchant increases the etch-rate of (100) silicon, thus the elapsed time for etch-stop was shortened. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n- and p-type silicon in a TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solution were obtained, respectively. Open circuit potential(OCP) and passivation potential(PP) of n- and p-type silicon, respectively, were obtained and applied potential was selected between n- and p-type silicon PP. The electrochemical etch-stop is applied to the fabrication of 801 microdiaphragms having $20{\mu}m$ thickness on a 5-inch silicon wafer. The averge thicknesses of 801 microdiaphragms fabricated on the one wafer were $20.03{\mu}m$ and standard deviation was ${\pm}0.26{\mu}m$. The silicon surface of the etch-stopped microdiaphragm was extremely flat without noticeable taper or other nonuniformities. The benefits of the electrochemical etch-stop in a TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solution become apparent when reproducibility in the microdiaphragm thickness for mass production is considered. These results indicate that the electrochemical etch-stop in a TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solution provides a powerful and versatile alternative process for fabricating high-yield silicon microdiaphragms.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제15권11호
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• pp.958-962
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• 2002

This paper reports on the fabrication of free-standing microstructures by DRIE (deep reactive ion etching). SOI (Si-on-insulator) structures with buried cavities are fabricated by SDB (Si-wafer direct bonding) technology and electrochemical etch-stop. The cavity was formed the upper handling wafer by Si anisotropic etch technique. SDB process was performed to seal the formed cavity under vacuum condition at -760 mmHg. In the SDB process, captured air and moisture inside of the cavities were removed by making channels towards outside. After annealing (100$0^{\circ}C$, 60 min.), the SDB SOI structure with a accurate thickness and a good roughness was thinned by electrochemical etch-stop in TMAH solution. Finally, it was fabricated free-standing microstructures by DRIE. This result indicates that the fabrication technology of free-standing microstructures by combination SDB, electrochemical etch-stop and DRIE provides a powerful and versatile alternative process for high-performance bulk micromachining in MEMS fields.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.223-227
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• 2001

In this paper, the authors present the fabrication of high-yield Si thin-membranes by electrochemical etch-stop in tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH): isopropyl alcohol (IPA):pyrazine solutions. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of n- and p-type Si in TMAH:IPA;pyrazine solutions were analysed, repsectively. Open circuit potential (OCP)and passivation potential (PP) of n- and p-type Si, respectively, were obtained and applied potential was selected between n- and p-type Si PPs. The electrochemical etch-stop method was applied to the fabrication of 801 micro-membranes with 20.0 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thickness on a 5" Si wafer. The average thickness of fabricated 801 micro-membranes on one wafer 20.03$\mu\textrm{m}$ and the standard deviation was ${\pm}$0.26$\mu\textrm{m}$. The Si surface of the etch-stopped micro-membranes was extremely flat with no noticeable taper or nonuniformity. The results indicate that use of the electrochemical etch-stop method for the etching of Si in TMAH:IPA;pyrazine solutions provides a powerful and versatile alternative process for fabricating high-yield Si micro-membranes.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2000년도 추계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.583-586
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• 2000

The non-selective method by polishing after grinding was used widely to thinning of SDB SOI structures. This method was very difficult to thickness control of thin film, and it was dependent on equipments. However electrochemical etch-stop, one of the selective methods, was able to accurately thickness control and etch equipment was very simple. Therefore, this paper described with the effect of leakage current and electrodes on electrochemical etch-stop. Consequentially, PP(passivation potential) was changed according to the kinds of contact and contact sizes, but OCP(open current potential) was not change with range of -1.5~-1.3V

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.26-31
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• 2001

This paper presents the electrochemical etch-stop characteristics of single-crystal Si(001) wafers in tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide(TMAH):isopropyl alcohol(IPA):pyrazine solutions. The addition of pyrazine to TMAH:IPA solutions increased the etch rate of (100) Si, thus the etching time required by the etch-stop process shortened. The current-voltage(I-V) characteristics of n- and p-type Si in TMAH:IPA:pyrazine solutions were obtained, respectively. Open circuit potential(OCP) and passivation potential(PP) of n- and p-type Si, respectively, were obtained and applied potential was selected between n- and p-type Si PPs. The electrochemical etch-stop method was used to fabricate 801 microdiaphragms of 20 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ thickness on a 5-inch Si wafer. The average thickness of fabricated 801 microdiaphragms on one Si wafer was 20.03 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and the standard deviation was $\pm$0.26 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. The Si surface of the etch-stopped microdiaphragm was extremely flat with no noticeable taper or nonuniformity.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2000년도 춘계학술대회 논문집 전자세라믹스 센서 및 박막재료 반도체재료 일렉트렛트 및 응용기술
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• pp.126-129
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• 2000

This paper describes on the fabrication of a SOI substrate by SDB technology and electrochemical etch-stop. The surface of the thinned SDB SOI substrate is more uniform than that of grinding or polishing by mechanical method, and this process was found to be very accurate method for SOI thickness control. During electrochemical etch-stop, leakage current versus voltage curves were measured for analysis of the open current potential (OCP) point, the passivation potential (PP) point and anodic passivation potential. The surface roughness and the controlled thickness selectivity of the fabricated a SDB SOI substrate were evaluated by using AFM and SEM, respectively.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2000년도 하계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.557-560
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• 2000

Combination of SDB(Si-wafer Direct Bonding) and electrochemical etch-stop in TMAH anisotropic etchant can be used to create a variety of MEMS(Micro Electro Mechanical System). Especially, fabrication of SDB SOI structures using electrochemical etch-stop is accurate method to fabrication of 3D(three-dimensional) microstructures. This paper describes on the fabrication of SDB SOI structures with sealed cavity for MEMS applications and thickness control of active layer on the SDB SOI structure by electrochemical etch-stop. The flatness of fabricated SDB SOI structure is very uniform and can be improved by addition of TMAH to IPA and pyrazine.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제13권5호
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• pp.431-436
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• 2000

This paper describes on the fabrication of a SOI substrate by SDB technology and electrochemical etch-stop. The surface of the thinned SDB SOI substrate is more uniform than that of grinding or polishing by mechanical method and this process was found to be a very accurate method for SOI thickness control. During electrochemical etch-stop leakage current versus voltage curves were measured for analysis of the open current potential(OCP) point the passivation potential(PP) point and anodic passivation potential. The surface roughness and the controlled thickness selectivity of the fabricated a SDB SOI substrate were evaluated by using AFM and SEM respectively.