3D surface topography and reflectivity of anisotropic etched silicon micromirrors for BioMEMS

This paper examines wet and dry fabrication of vertical micro-mirrors in (110) silicon for use in an innovative BioMEMS integrating gripping and micro force sensing functionalities. Wet anisotropic chemical etching in potassium hydroxide (KOH) and tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) with and without isopropanol alcohol (IPA) additive was examined. Deep Reactive Ion Etched samples were produced using inductive coupled process. 3D surface roughness of samples was examined using scanning electron microscope, interferometric profilometer and atomic force microscopy. An optic fiber displacement sensor was exploited to measure the reflectivity of uncoated or coated samples with evaporated metallic thin film. The research aimed to find optimal fabrication technique for fabricating vertical micro-mirrors in polymer based BioMEMS. TMAH etched silicon samples with surface roughness R _a = 15.1 nm showed highest reflectivity of all structures fabricated, reflectivity was more than doubled by adding a 10 nm layer of evaporated aluminum coating.