Sputtered silicon dioxide layers forMEMS applications

In this work, silicon dioxide layers are deposited by RF sputtering technique at low temperatures for micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and CMOS applications. Due to incompatibility of thermally grown oxide in CMOS and MEMS applications, sputtered oxides shown good alternative method for oxide depositions. The sputtered layers shown similar characteristics as thermal oxides. FTIR, AFM and SEM analysis performed to characterize deposited thin films on silicon samples. Films with high density and good stoichiometry are observed. Cantilever structures are fabricated using bulk micromachining techniques.