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Growth of Polycrystalline Silicon Carbide on Thin Polysilicon Sacrificial Layers for Surface Micromachining Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

R.F. Wiser
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106
J. Chung
Affiliation:
Department of Material Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106
M. Mehregany
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106
C.A. Zorman
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106
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Abstract

Polycrystalline silicon carbide (poly-SiC) films were deposited by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) at epitaxial growth temperatures on planar, 100 nm-thick polysilicon sacrificial layers using two recipes that included or excluded a pre-growth carbonization step. Poly-SiC films grown using the carbonization-based recipe exhibited a relatively high degree of (111) 3C-SiC texture and had uniform, well-defined, void-free poly-SiC/polysilicon interfaces. In contrast, poly-SiC films grown without carbonization were randomly oriented, had numerous poly-SiC inclusions that sometimes completely penetrated the polysilicon underlayer, and had a higher surface roughness than the films grown with carbonization. Analysis of micromechanical clamped-clamped (C-C) beam resonators fabricated from films grown using the two differing recipes shows that the carbonization step is needed to protect the thin polysilicon sacrificial layer from voids and inclusions and thus maintain the proper spacing between the drive electrodes and the resonant beams.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

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