A new process for releasing micromechanical structures in surface micromachining with polysilicon support and LPCVD Si3N4 embedded mask

This paper presents a new process for releasing micromechanical structures in surface micromachining with polysilicon support and LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) Si3N4 embedded mask for one polysilicon layer pr ocess, which can be adjusted to be suitable for the structure stiffness by changing the distance between two supports. The results of test structures show that this process may be a good technology to eliminate the sticking o f microstructures to the substrate during the wafer drying after the sacrif icial etching process. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.