MRI: Acquisition of a Deep Silicon Etch Tool for NEMS/MEMS Fabrication

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This MRI Proposal involves procurement of an STS Multiplex System for Standard Rate Advanced Silicon Etch (ASE-SR). Difficult processes that are routinely addressed using this equipment include: deep- and through-wafer etching of silicon, high aspect ratio feature etching, membrane release etching, and silicon on insulator (SOI) applications. In the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) arena, the STS etcher provides the unique capability to achieve unconstrained geometry of the devices. This very significantly increases the options available to the device designer. In addition, in MEMS packaging activities (which have undoubtedly the most profound impact on the manufacturability and the future of the MEMS field in general), it offers additional opportunities such as achieving high-density through-wafer interconnects, as well as a plethora of new options for MEMS encapsulation.This piece of equipment can be used for the fabrication of extremely precise mechanical masks (i.e., shadow masks) for metal evaporation, which in turn can be used to anchor nanodevices such as carbon nanotubes in the desired position on a substrate. Also, this equipment can be modified to do conventional reactive ion etching (RIE), which would be very useful for researchers is the field of general microelectronics.Specific projects under way or planned for the near future include fabrication of sophisticated microactuators used to study effects of dynamic loading on bone cell behavior, miniature chemical synthesis microplants for the delivery of H2 to micro-fuel cells, and micro- and nano-tensile test specimens with high dimensional accuracy.Broader ImpactsAt Lehigh University, there is currently a huge new set of thrusts in the fields of MEMS, bioengineering and nanotechnology. Educational programs at the undergraduate level are being developed to match the research growth in these areas. It is the plan that new laboratory courses will be offered in the MEMS field (both in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, as well as the newly emerging Bioengineering undergraduate track in which the PI and co-PI's are participants), for which this piece of equipment would be indispensable. Also, it will serve the surrounding community within the Lehigh Valley, particularly the local colleges and K-12 students by providing a vehicle for the fabrication of interesting microdevices for visually attractive It "show and tell" demonstrations. A special effort will be made to introduce students on all educational levels into the magical worlds of micro- and nanotechnology.