Spin-On Glass as a Sacrificial Layer for Patterned Metallization of Compliant SU-8 Microstructures

A new micromachining technique is described in this paper for polymer MEMS process. By using spin-on glass (SOG) as the underlying sacrificial layer, existing SU-8 micromachining processing has been enhanced to allow for metallization, patterning, as well as post-development hard baking of SU-8 structures. Chemical compatibility of the SOG sacrificial layer makes direct metallization and patterning on top of unreleased SU-8 structures possible. Detail fabrication process flow and fabricated structures are presented in this paper.