Title: Hybrid bulk micro-machining process suitable for roughness reduction in optical MEMS devices

Authors: Arvind Chandrasekaran, Muthukumaran Packirisamy, Ion Stiharu, Andre Delage

Addresses: Micromechatronics Laboratory, Concave Research Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia University, 1455, de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada. ' Micromechatronics Laboratory, Concave Research Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia University, 1455, de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada. ' Micromechatronics Laboratory, Concave Research Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Concordia University, 1455, de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada. ' Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, 1191 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada

Abstract: A hybrid micro-machining technique suitable for reducing surface roughness in different optical micro-systems environment is presented. In general, the Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS) consist of waveguide-based devices and non-waveguide-based micro-systems. The proposed technique is suitable for both kinds of applications. This paper also presents two types of micro-machining, namely, isotropic gas phase Xenon difluoride (XeF2) pulse etching and wet anisotropic etching with Tetra Methyl Ammonium Hydroxide (TMAH), along with the mechanism of hybrid micro-machining. The influence of surface roughness on scattering loss in the two kinds of optical micro-systems has been analysed and the results are presented. The improvement in surface roughness due to the proposed technique is demonstrated by experimental characterisation of the roughness parameters using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The results indicate a clear improvement in surface roughness and the induced scattering loss due to the proposed hybrid micro-machining technique.

Keywords: microoptoelectromechanical systems; MOEMS; optical MEMS; hybrid micromachining; XeF2 pulsed etching; tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide; TMAH etching; wet anisotropic etching; surface roughness; scattering loss; atomic force microscope; AFM; scanning electron microscope; SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2006.009992

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.9 No.1/2, pp.144 - 159

Published online: 06 Jun 2006 *

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