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Study of residual stress-induced deformation of multilayer cantilever for maskless microplasma etching

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Abstract

In the scanning probe microscopy-based microplasma etching system proposed by our group, the microcantilever probe integrated with microplasma device is a multilayered structure. However, the thin film residual stress generated by microfabrication process may cause undesirable bending deformation of the cantilever. In order to predict and minimize the stress-induced deformation in the cantilever design, we experimentally measure and calculate each thin film stress of the cantilever based on Stoney equation. Then the stress-induced bending deformation of the cantilever is simulated by finite element simulation. By adjusting the thickness of reserved silicon layer of the cantilever, the deflection can be minimized to <5 μm for a 750 μm-length cantilever. Finally the microcantilever probes with different thickness of reserved silicon layer are successfully fabricated by MEMS process. The bending deformation of actual fabricated cantilevers agree well with simulation results, which verifies the feasibility of the cantilever structural design. The results of this paper may lay a foundation for further scanning plasma maskless etching.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50605061) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2090090001)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Precision Machinery and Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China

    Li Wen, Zhen Yuan, Leili Cheng, Hongjiang Zeng & Jiaru Chu

Authors
  1. Li Wen
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  2. Zhen Yuan
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  3. Leili Cheng
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  4. Hongjiang Zeng
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  5. Jiaru Chu
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Correspondence to Li Wen.

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Wen, L., Yuan, Z., Cheng, L. et al. Study of residual stress-induced deformation of multilayer cantilever for maskless microplasma etching. Microsyst Technol 18, 113–118 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-011-1395-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-011-1395-7

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