Reducing stiction in Microelectromechanical Systems by nanometer-scale films grown by atomic layer deposition

Author

Puurunen, R.L. ; Häärä, A. ; Ritala, H. ; Dekker, J. ; Kainlauri, M. ; Pohjonen, H. ; Suni, T. ; Kiihamaki, J. ; Santala, E. ; Leskelä, M. ; Kattelus, H.

Author_Institution

VTT Tech. Res. Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland

fYear

2011

fDate

5-9 June 2011

Firstpage

1887

Lastpage

1890

Abstract

Stiction during device operation remains one of the mechanisms leading to permanent failure of operating silicon-based MEMS devices (MicroElectroMechanical Systems). The goal of this work was to investigate, whether stiction between parallel, smooth silicon surfaces can be decreased by thin inorganic films grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Test structures based on the cantilever-beam-array (CBA) method were fabricated and coated with ALD layers varying in chemical nature and roughness. Rough crystalline TiO₂ decreased the adhesion energy orders of magnitude as compared to Si and other smooth films, indicating that TiO₂ and other crystalline ALD films are candidates for anti-stiction layers in MEMS.

Keywords

adhesion; atomic layer deposition; beams (structures); cantilevers; elemental semiconductors; failure (mechanical); micromechanical devices; nanoelectromechanical devices; nanostructured materials; semiconductor thin films; silicon; stiction; thin film devices; ALD layers; Rough crystalline; Si; adhesion energy; antistiction layer; atomic layer deposition; cantilever-beam-array method; crystalline ALD films; device operation; microelectromechanical system; nanometer-scale film; permanent failure; silicon-based MEMS device; smooth silicon surface; thin inorganic film; Adhesives; Aluminum oxide; Films; Micromechanical devices; Silicon; Structural beams; Surface treatment; Al2O3; Atomic layer deposition; MoN; TiO2; cantilever beam array; stiction;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference (TRANSDUCERS), 2011 16th International

Conference_Location

Beijing

ISSN

Pending

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-0157-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/TRANSDUCERS.2011.5969776

Filename

5969776