Published in

IOP Publishing, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 7(19), p. 074015, 2009

DOI: 10.1088/0960-1317/19/7/074015

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Selective nucleation in silicon moulds for diamond MEMS fabrication

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

Full text: Unavailable

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

We present a new and original approach for the fabrication of diamond MEMS using MPCVD. This process does not rely on diamond etching using conventional techniques such as e. g. RIE: here our MEMS structures are geometrically defined using silicon moulds in which diamond is grown selectively. The moulds can be prepared from silicon using DRIE and enabling a wide range of geometries. The critical point is the selectivity of diamond growth which dramatically depends on the nucleation process. Two nucleation methods for selective diamond growth inside silicon moulds were explored in parallel and compared, namely, the bias enhanced nucleation (BEN) and the nano-seeding technique. With both methods, MEMS structures were successfully fabricated and characterized, leading to values for the Young modulus above 830 GPa, thus comparing well with literature values. We believe our approach will ease the routine fabrication of large area diamond MEMS wafers for improved advanced device fabrication.