Calculation and simulation of the bending deformation of multilayer thin films microcantilever integrated with the microplasma reactor

In order to realize maskless etching with the high resolution and high efficiency, a novel cantilever-based microplasma etching method is proposed in our previous work. The cantilever probe integrated with microplasma reactor is the multilayer structure. In the fabrication process of cantilever, the residue stress in multilayer thin films may cause undesirable bending of cantilever. This paper establishes the thermal stress calculation formula for the multilayer thin films microstructure and gets the relation between the cantilever deflection and internal stress. The stress in each film is experimentally measured. The deflection of cantilever is calculated by theoretical formula and simulated by ANSYS software as well. The accuracy error of the calculated and simulation is within 5%. It proves that the model has good practicability and provides a theoretical basis for controlling the deflection of multilayer thin films microcantilever and structural optimization.