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AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsScott D. Habermehl, Jeffry J. Sniegowski
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The use of silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) as a sacrificial material for forming a microelectromechanical (MEM) device is disclosed. Whereas conventional sacrificial materials such as silicon dioxide and silicate glasses are compressively strained, the composition of silicon oxynitride can be selected to be either tensile-strained or substantially-stress-free. Thus, silicon oxynitride can be used in combination with conventional sacrificial materials to limit an accumulation of compressive stress in a MEM device; or alternately the MEM device can be formed entirely with silicon oxynitride. Advantages to be gained from the use of silicon oxynitride as a sacrificial material for a MEM device include the formation of polysilicon members that are substantially free from residual stress, thereby improving the reliability of the MEM device; an ability to form the MEM device with a higher degree of complexity and more layers of structural polysilicon than would be possible using conventional compressively-strained sacrificial materials; and improved manufacturability resulting from the elimination of wafer distortion that can arise from an excess of accumulated stress in conventional sacrificial materials. The present invention is useful for forming many different types of MEM devices including accelerometers, sensors, motors, switches, coded locks, and flow-control devices, with or without integrated electronic circuitry.
A method for forming a microelectromechanical (MEM) apparatus having at least one substantially stress-free moveable member, comprising steps for:
A method for forming a microelectromechanical (MEM) apparatus, comprising steps for:
A method for forming a microelectromechanical (MEM) apparatus, comprising steps for:
A method for forming a microelectromechanical (MEM) apparatus having at least four layers of structural polysilicon, comprising steps for:
A method for forming a microelectromechanical (MEM) apparatus having at least four layers of structural polysilicon wherefrom moveable members are formed, comprising steps for:
A method for improving the reliability of a microelectromechanical (MEM) apparatus by minimizing residual stress within a polysilicon member thereof, comprising steps for:
A method for maintaining wafer planarity during formation of a plurality of microelectromechanical (MEM) devices on a substrate, comprising steps for:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.