Journal of Guangxi Normal University(Natural Science Edition) ›› 2014, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (2): 55-59.

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Synergistic Effect of Isopropyl Alcohol and Oxidant in Silicon Wet Etching with TMAH Etchant

CHEN Dong1,2 , LIU Shi-bin1 , LIANG Jin-tao3   

  1. 1. School of Electronics and Information, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an shaanxi 710072, China;
    2. School of Electronic Engineering, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications, Xi’an shaanxi 710121, China;
    3. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin Guangxi 541004, China
  • Received:2013-06-30 Online:2014-06-25 Published:2018-09-25

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Abstract: Tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) is a kind of silicon wet etchants frequently used in Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS). When etching a silicon device with aluminum structure on its surface, for protecting the aluminum structure, a quantity of silicic acid and oxidant are added into the TMAH solution, but doing so will result in the decline of surface smoothness. In this paper, two kinds of substance, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and ammonium persulfate (AP) are simultaneously added into the TMAH solution in which silicic acid is resolved beforehand, and the effect on the etching performance of TMAH is studied. Result of the research reveals, the synergistic effect of IPA and AP can improve the smoothness of silicon etching surface remarkably.

Key words: TMAH, silicon wet etching, ammonium persulfate, isopropyl alcohol

CLC Number: 

  • TN305
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