• Anisotropic Crystalline Etch Simulation Model
• Anisotropic Crystalline Etch Simulation Tools
• Anisotropic Crystalline Etch Simulation Method

Simulation of Anisotropic Chemical Etching of Single Crystalline Silicon using Cellular-Automata

Anisotropic crystalline etching simulation (ACES) program based on a new continuous Cellular Automata (CA) model. The program provides accurate modeling of etching process with high spatial resolution. Implementation of a dynamic CA technique has resulted in increased simulation speed and reduced memory requirements. A first ACES software based. An atomistic model for the simulation of anisotropic wet chemical etching of crystalline silicon is developed. Special attention is paid to the relation between the atomistic processes, the mesoscopic features of the surface morphology and the macroscopic anisotropy of the process, bridging the different length scales. Abstract Anisotropic chemical etching of crystalline silicon in aqueous KOH is simulated at the atomic level using a cellular automata model. Experimental etch-rate ratios as well as the influence of temperature and concentration of the etchant are taken into account by introducing a stochastic component. With the help of two examples, the underetching of a convex mask corner and mask-corner. Sensors and Actuators A, 31(1992) 267 274 267 Anisotropic crystal etching: a simulation program J. Delapierre LET1/DOPTfSCMM-CEA -CENG 85X, 38041 Grenoble C dex (France) Abstract In the field of micro-devices, tools are actually needed to model the fabrication processes, especially the shapes resulting from chemical etching of a monocrystal.

Abstract

We propose a new concept for anisotropic single crystalline silicon (Si) etching simulation. Our approach combines three calculation modules, a molecular dynamics calculation module to define chemical reaction probability, a Cellular-Automaton module to calculate etching rate, and a Wulff-Jaccodine graphical method module to predict an etched shape. This configuration allows mm scale process simulation based on atomic scale physical chemistry of anisotropic Si etching. In this paper, the performance of a newly developed Cellular-Automata module, called CAES (Cellular-Automata Etching simulator), is presented as a first step towards the realization of our simulation concept.

Publication:

Pub Date:

2004

DOI:

10.1541/ieejsmas.124.7

Anisotropic Crystalline Etch Simulation Model

Bibcode:

Anisotropic Crystalline Etch Simulation Tools

2004IJTSM.124....7K

Keywords:

• simulation;
• anisotropic;
• wet etching;
• silicon;
• molecular dynamics;
• Wulff-Jaccodine;
• Cellular-Automata

1. IntroductionAnisotropic crystal etching is the common technique used in Micro Electromechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturing. It uses the property of some single crystal materials, like silicon, of having different etching rates in different crystal directions when the material is etched in special chemicals, such as potassium hydroxide (KOH). Predicting the resulting shape of the structure under such conditions requires full three-dimensional simulation of the evolution of the etched surface.Silvaco’s 3D process simulator VICTORY Process is perfectly suitable for such task. The numerical engine of VICTORY Process is able to accurately model physical etching with complicated distributions of etch rates over the surface even for initial structures with complex three-dimensional topographies.

Anisotropic Crystalline Etch Simulation Method