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Aluminum-Silicon and Gold-Silicon Eutectics: New Opportunities for MEMS Technologies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Ciprian Iliescu
Affiliation:
Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798
Daniel P. Poenar
Affiliation:
Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798
Jianmin Miao Nanyang
Affiliation:
Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798
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Abstract

Our practical experiments highlight that aluminum-silicon (Al-Si) and gold-silicon (Au- Si) eutectics are fairly inert to the attack of both anisotropic and isotropic wet etchants of Si (e.g. KOH or HF/HNO3 solutions). Therefore, these interfacial eutectics can be used as etch-stop layers in wet etching-based bulk micromachining. This paper presents how Al-Si and Au-Si eutectic layers may be employed for applications whose production involves such operations (e.g. high-pressure sensors) and will discuss three major directions of interest: eutectic formation, diaphragm generation and application of the eutectic layer in a pressure sensor.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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