Specific Process Knowledge/Etch/Etching of Bulk Glass

From LabAdviser

At Danchip, we have two types of bulk glass substrates: Borosilicate glass (Borofloat) and fused silicate glass which in cleanliness match quartz.


Silicon oxide can be etched using either wet chemistry or dry etch equipment. Wet chemistry is mainly used to remove all the oxide on the surface (backside and front side) of a wafer or for isotrotropic etching. Dry etching etches anisotropic. It etches one side of the wafer at a time and can be used to etch structures with several masking materials.


40% HF 3µm/min Beaker Maske?

Beskrives en hel process.

Comparison of wet Silicon Oxide etch and dry etches (RIE and AOE) etch for etching of Silicon Oxide

Wet Silicon Oxide etch (BHF and SIO Etch (wetting agent)) RIE AOE
General description
  • Isotropic etch
  • Anisotropic etch: vertical sidewalls
  • Anisotropic etch: vertical sidewalls, especially good for deep etch and high aspect ratio etch
Possible masking materials
  • Photoresist
  • Silicon nitride
  • Photoresist
  • (Poly)Silicon
  • Aluminium
  • Chromium (ONLY RIE2!)
  • Other metals that covers less the 5% of the wafer area (ONLY RIE2!)
  • Photoresist
  • (Poly)Silicon
  • Aluminium
Etch rate
  • ~75 nm/min (Thermal oxide) in BHF
  • ~90 nm/min (Thermal oxide) in SIO Etch
  • Typically 40-120 nm/min can be increased or decreased by using other recipe parameters.
  • Typically 200-600 nm/min can be increased or decreased by using other recipe parameters.
Batch size
  • 1-25 wafers at a time
  • 1 wafer at a time
  • 1 wafer at a time
Size of substrate
  • 4" wafers
  • 4" wafers or smaller pieces
  • 6" or 4" depending on the setup (smaller pieces if you have a carrier wafer)
Allowed materials
  • Silicon
  • Silicon Oxide
  • Silicon Nitride
  • Silicon Oxynitride
  • Photoresist
  • Blue film
  • Gold (Au) and Nickel (Ni) (but only in BHF2 (KOH)!)
  • Silicon
  • Silicon Oxide
  • Silicon Nitride
  • Silicon Oxynitride
  • Photoresist
  • E-beam resist
  • Aluminium
  • Chromium (ONLY RIE2!)
  • Other metals that covers less the 5% of the wafer area (ONLY RIE2!)
  • Silicon
  • Silicon Oxide
  • Silicon Nitride
  • Silicon Oxynitride
  • Photoresist
  • E-beam resist
  • Aluminium