Amorphous SiC as a structural layer in microbridge-based RF MEMS switches for use in software-defined radio

Solid-State Electronics

Volumn 52, Issue 10, 2008, Pages 1647-1651

  Parro, Rocco J ^a   Scardelletti, Maximilian C ^b   Varaljay, Nicholas C ^b   Zimmerman, Sloan ^c   Zorman, Christian A ^a  

^a Case Western Reserve University   (United States)

^b NASA GLENN RESEARCH CENTER   (United States)

^c Solon High School   (United States)

Author keywords

Microbridge; PECVD silicon carbide; Residual stress; RF MEMS; Young's modulus

Indexed keywords

AMORPHOUS SILICON; COMPOSITE MICROMECHANICS; ELECTRIC CURRENTS; LOAD TESTING; MEMS; METAL TESTING; METALLIZING; METALS; METHANE; MICROELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICES; MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY; NONMETALS; OPTICAL DESIGN; PHOTORESISTS; RESIDUAL STRESSES; SILANES; SILICON; SILICON CARBIDE; STRENGTH OF MATERIALS; STRESSES;

AMORPHOUS SIC; AMORPHOUS SILICON CARBIDE; BULK-MICROMACHINED; LOAD DEFLECTIONS; MECHANICAL PERFORMANCES; METAL LAYERS; MICROBRIDGE; MICROBRIDGES; PECVD SILICON CARBIDE; PRECURSOR GASES; RESIDUAL STRESS; RF MEMS; RF PERFORMANCE; RF-MEMS SWITCHES; SHUNT CAPACITORS; SIC FILMS; SOFTWARE-DEFINED RADIOS; STRUCTURAL LAYERS; YOUNG'S MODULUS;

AMORPHOUS FILMS;

EID: 50849090591     PISSN: 00381101     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.sse.2008.06.004     Document Type: Article

References (17)

1. Tong L, Mehregany M, Tang WC. Amorphous silicon carbide films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. In: Proceedings of IEEE micro electro mechanical systems; February 1993. p. 242-7.
2. Solomon I., Schmidt M.P., and Tran-Quoc H. Selective low-power plasma decomposition of silane-methane mixtures for the preparation of methylated amorphous silicon. Phys Rev B 38 14 (1988) 9895-9901
3. Jean A., Chaker M., Diawara Y., Leung P.K., Gat E., Mercier P.P., et al. Characterization of a-SiC:H films produced in a standard plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system for X-ray mask application. J Appl Phys 72 7 (1992) 3110-3115 Oct
4. Windischmann H. Intrinsic stress and mechanical properties of hydrogenated silicon carbide produced by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. J Vac Sci Technol A 9 4 (1991) 2459-2463
5. Du J, Singh N, Summers J, Zorman CA. Development of PECVD SiC for MEMS using 3MS as the precursor. In: Materials research society symposium proceedings, vol. 919; 2005. p. 283-8.
6. Ivashchenko V.I., Dub S.N., Porada O.K., Ivashchenko L.A., Skrynskyy P.L., and Stegniy A.I. Mechanical properties of PECVD a-SiC:H thin films prepared from methyltricholorosilane. Surf Coat Technol 200 22-23 (2006) 6533-6537
7. Klumpp A., Schaber U., Offerins H.L., Kuhl K., and Sandmaier H. Amorphous silicon carbide and its application in silicon micromachining. Sens Actuat A: Phys 41 1-3 (1994) 310-316
8. Sarro P.M., deBoer C.R., Korkmaz E., and Laros J.M.W. Low-stress PECVD thin films for IC-compatible microstructures. Sens Actuat A: Phys 67 1-3 (1988) 175-180
9. Carreño M.N.P., and Lopes A.T. Self-sustained bridges of a-SiC:H films obtained by PECVD at low temperatures for MEMS applications. J Non-Cryst Solids 338-340 (2004) 490-495
10. Flannery A.F., Mourlas N.J., Storment C.W., Tsai S., Tan S.H., Heck J., et al. PECVD silicon carbide as a chemically resistant material for micromachined transducers. Sens Actuat A: Phys 70 1-2 (1988) 45-48
11. El Khakani M.A., Chaker M., Jean A., Boily S., Kieffer J.C., O'Hern M.E., et al. Hardness and Young's modulus of amorphous a-SiC thin films determined by nanoindentation and bulge tests. J Mater Res 9 1 (1994) 96-103
12. Cros B., Gat E., and Saurel J.M. Characterization of the elastic properties of amorphous silicon carbide thin films by acoustic microscopy. J Non-Cryst Solids 209 (1997) 273-282
13. Tabata O, Kawahata K, Sugiyama S, Igarashi I. Mechanical property measurements of thin films using load-deflection of composite rectangular membranes. In: Proceedings of IEEE micro electro mechanical systems, 1989. An investigation of micro structures, sensors, actuators, machines and robots, February 20-22; 1989. p. 152-6.
14. Bromley E.I., Randall J.N., Flanders D.C., and Mountain R.W. A technique for the determination of stress in thin films. J Vac Sci Technol B 1 4 (1983) 1364-1366
15. Mitchell J.S., Zorman C.A., Kicher T., Roy S., and Mehregany M. Examination of bulge test for determining residual stress, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio of 3C-SiC thin films. J Aerospace Eng 16 2 (2003) 46-54
16. Vlassak J.J., and Nix W.D. A new bulge test technique for the determination of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of thin films. J Mater Res 7 12 (1992) 3242-3249
17. Pan JY, Lin P, Maseeh F, Senturia SD. Verification of FEM analysis of load-deflection methods formeasuring mechanical properties of thin films. In: IEEE solid-state sensor and actuator workshop, 1990. 4th Technical digest, June 4-7; 1990. p. 70-3.