Polymer protective coating for wet deep silicon etching processes

摘要

A need exists for spin-applied polymeric coatings to protect electronic circuitry and other sensitive structures on MEMS devices during deep silicon wet etching processes involving corrosive mixtures of aqueous acids and bases. The challenge exists in developing protective coatings that do not decompose or dissolve in the harsh etchants and, more importantly, that maintain good adhesion to the substrate during the sometimes long etching processes. We have developed a multilayer coating system that is stable and adheres well to silicon nitride and other semiconductor materials and affords chemical protection for at least eight hours in hot potassium hydroxide etchant. The same coating system is also compatible with concentrated hydrofluoric acid etchants, which can diffuse rapidly through many polymeric materials to attack the device substrate.