Integration of Electrodeposited Ni-Fe in MEMS with Low-Temperature Processes

Giuseppe Schiavone, Jeremy Murray, Richard Perry, Andrew Mount, Marc P.Y. Desmulliez, Anthony Walton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article presents a set of low-temperature deposition and etching processes for the integration of electrochemically deposited Ni-Fe alloys in complex magnetic microelectromechanical systems, as Ni-Fe is known to suffer from detrimental stress development when subjected to excessive thermal loads. A selective etch process is reported which enables the copper seed layer used for electrodeposition to be removed while preserving the integrity of Ni-Fe. In addition, a low temperature deposition and surface micromachining process is presented in which silicon dioxide and silicon nitride are used respectively as sacrificial material and structural dielectric. The sacrificial layer can be patterned and removed by wet buffered oxide etch or vapour HF etching. The reported methods limit the thermal budget and minimise the stress development in Ni-Fe. This combination of techniques represents an advance towards the reliable integration of Ni-Fe components in complex surface micromachined magnetic MEMS.
Original languageEnglish
Article number323
Number of pages19
JournalMaterials
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Mar 2017

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  • SMART microsystems

    Walton, A.

    EPSRC

    1/04/1028/02/15

    Project: Research

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