Microelectromechanical structure and process of making same
First Claim
1. A process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible material laid out to form at least a portion of said microelectromechanical device, at least one layer of an erodible material, and at least one sacrificial layer, comprising the steps of:
- using the layer of non-erodible material as a mask and anistropically etching any of said layer of erodible material not occluded by said layer of non-erodible material; and
isotropically etching said sacrificial layer under at least a beam portion of said microelectromechanical device to free said beam portion of said microelectromechanical device from said substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible material laid out to form at least a portion of the microelectromechanical device, at least one layer of an erodible material, and at least one sacrificial layer. The process includes the step of using the layer of non-erodible material as a mask and anistropically etching any of the layer of erodible material not occluded by the layer of non-erodible material. The process also includes the step of isotropically etching the sacrificial layer under at least a beam portion of the microelectromechanical device to free the beam portion of the microelectromechanical device from the substrate.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible material laid out to form at least a portion of said microelectromechanical device, at least one layer of an erodible material, and at least one sacrificial layer, comprising the steps of:
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using the layer of non-erodible material as a mask and anistropically etching any of said layer of erodible material not occluded by said layer of non-erodible material; and isotropically etching said sacrificial layer under at least a beam portion of said microelectromechanical device to free said beam portion of said microelectromechanical device from said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible conductive aluminum mask material laid out to form at least a portion of said microelectromechanical device, at least one layer of an erodible insulative oxide material, and at least one polysilicon sacrificial layer, comprising the steps of:
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anistropically etching any of said layer of erodible material not occluded by said layer of non-erodible material using an ion etch in an oxygen-rich atmosphere; and isotropically etching said sacrificial layer under at least a beam portion of said microelectromechanical device to free said beam portion of said microelectromechanical device from said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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Specification