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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. Microsystems Material Properties

Author : Michael Huff

Published in: Process Variations in Microsystems Manufacturing

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Chapter 6 reviews some of the important properties of the most commonly used materials in microsystems manufacturing. It is explained that the material properties are dependent on the processing conditions, and since many process sequences are customized, there is often insufficient knowledge of the properties during development. Most attention is given to two specific material properties, namely, Young’s modulus and residual stress, due to the fact that these usually have an important impact on the behavior of MEMS devices and the fact that these properties can vary quite significantly depending on the processing conditions. The use of test structures, including both mechanical and electrical, for measuring various material properties is explained. A review of the material properties for some of the most commonly used materials in microsystems manufacturing is then provided including semiconductors; dielectrics; and metals. The purpose of providing information about reported values of Young’s modulus and residual stress in deposited thin-film layers is to give an appreciation of the amount that these properties can vary with processing conditions and some guidance about the ranges that these properties may span.

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previous chapter Metrology for Microsystems Manufacturing
next chapter Microsystems Process Integration, Testing, and Packaging
Footnotes
1
It should be noted that many bulk semiconductor materials exhibit anisotropic material properties whereby the material properties vary depending on the orientation of the crystal lattice of the semiconductor. However, this is different from what is being discussed in this chapter.
 
2
It should be noted that this may not be true over any temperature. For example, silicon when loaded at elevated temperatures, typically above 600 °C, can display plastic deformation.
 
3
This assumes the dopants are substitutional in the silicon lattice. Interstitial doping may result in films with different stress states [4].
 
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Metadata
Title
Microsystems Material Properties
Author
Michael Huff
Copyright Year
2020
Book
Process Variations in Microsystems Manufacturing

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-40558-8

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-40560-1

Copyright Year: 2020

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40560-1_6