DOI: 10.1557/proc-383-391. Diamond-Like Carbon Films for Silicon Passivation in Microelectromechanical Devices

Diamond-Like Carbon Films for Silicon Passivation in Microelectromechanical Devices

10.1557/proc-383-391

Crossref journal-article

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

MRS Proceedings (297)

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe surface properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by a vacuum arc technique on smooth silicon wafers are presented with specific emphasis given to stiction reduction in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The low deposition temperatures afforded by the vacuum arc technique should allow for easy integration of the DLC films into the current fabrication process of typical surface micromachines by means of a standard lift-off processing technique. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle analysis, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the surface chemistry, microroughness, hydrophobicity, and adhesion forces of DLC-coated Si(100) surfaces were measured and correlated to the measured water contact angles. DLC films were found to be extremely smooth and possess a water contact angle of 87°, which roughly corresponds to a surface energy of 22 mJ/m2. It is shown that the pull-off forces measured by AFM correlate well with the predicted capillary forces. Pull-off forces are reduced on DLC surfaces by about a factor of five compared to 10 nN pull-off forces measured on the RCA-cleaned silicon surfaces. In the absence of meniscus forces, the overall adhesion force is expected to decrease by over an order of magnitude to the van der Waals attractive force present between two DLC-coated surfaces- To further improve the surface properties of DLC, films were exposed to a fluorine plasma which increased the contact angle to 99° and lowered the pull-off force by approximately 20% over that obtained with as-deposited DLC. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to stiction reduction in micromachines.

Bibliography

Houston, M. R., Howe, R. T., Komvopoulos, K., & Maboudian, R. (1995). Diamond-Like Carbon Films for Silicon Passivation in Microelectromechanical Devices. MRS Proceedings, 383.

Authors 4

M. R. Houston (first)
R. T. Howe (additional)
K Komvopoulos (additional)
R. Maboudian (additional)

References 28 Referenced 31

10.1007/978-94-011-0725-9
10.1557/JMR.1995.0165
10.1115/1.2831521
10.1109/SOLSEN.1992.228292
10.1007/978-1-4684-0335-0
10.1063/1.354431
10 Mulhern G.T. , Soane D.S. , and Howe R.T. , Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, Transducers 93, Yokohama, Japan, June 2–5, 1993, p. 296.
3 Howe R.T. , 13th Sensor Symposium, IEEE of Japan, June 8–9, 1995.
6 Legtenberg R. , Elders J. , and Elwenspoek M. , Proc. 7th Int. Conf Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, Transducers 93, Yokohama, Japan, June 2–5, 1993, p. 198.
10.1063/1.358408
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref014', 'first-page': 'L169', 'volume': '5', 'author': 'Veerasamy', 'year': '1993', 'journal-title': 'J. Phys.: Cond Matter'} / J. Phys.: Cond Matter by Veerasamy (1993)
10.1557/S0883769400060176
10.1116/1.579248
10.1016/0257-8972(94)90191-0
10.1063/1.1144756
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref022', 'volume-title': 'Contact Angle, Wettability, and Adhesion: Advances in Chemistry Series', 'volume': '43', 'author': 'Good', 'year': '1964'} / Contact Angle, Wettability, and Adhesion: Advances in Chemistry Series by Good (1964)
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref023', 'volume-title': 'Graphite Fluorides - Studies in Inorganic Chemistry', 'volume': '8', 'author': 'Watanabe', 'year': '1988'} / Graphite Fluorides - Studies in Inorganic Chemistry by Watanabe (1988)
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref009', 'first-page': '368', 'volume-title': 'Proc. IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Workshop', 'author': 'Deng', 'year': '1995'} / Proc. IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Workshop by Deng (1995)
10.1016/0924-4247(90)85001-K
10.1002/pen.760241302
10.1063/1.358516
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref020', 'volume-title': 'Surface and Colloid Science Vol. II: Experimental Methods', 'author': 'Neumann', 'year': '1979'} / Surface and Colloid Science Vol. II: Experimental Methods by Neumann (1979)
10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2753
8 Fedder G.K. , Ph. D.Thesis, Dept. of EECS, Univ. of Calif at Berkeley, Sept. 1994.
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref011', 'volume-title': 'Intermolecular and Surface Forces', 'author': 'Israelachvili', 'year': '1985'} / Intermolecular and Surface Forces by Israelachvili (1985)
19 Houston M.R. and Maboudian R. , submitted to.. Appl. Phys., (1995).
{'key': 'S1946427400278135_ref027', 'first-page': '111', 'volume-title': 'Proc. IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. An Invest. of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines, and Systems', 'author': 'Torii', 'year': '1993'} / Proc. IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. An Invest. of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines, and Systems by Torii (1993)
28 Houston M.R. , Maboudian R. , and Howe R. T. , Proc. 8th int. conf Solid-Slate Sensors and Actuators, Transducers 95, Stockholm, Sweden, June 25–29, 1995.

Dates

Type	When
Created	14 years, 4 months ago (April 5, 2011, 12:14 p.m.)
Deposited	4 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 24, 2021, 3:41 p.m.)
Indexed	1 year, 2 months ago (June 7, 2024, 1:59 p.m.)
Issued	30 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 1, 1995)
Published	30 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 1, 1995)
Published Online	14 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 15, 2011)
Published Print	30 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 1, 1995)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Houston_1995, title={Diamond-Like Carbon Films for Silicon Passivation in Microelectromechanical Devices}, volume={383}, ISSN={1946-4274}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1557/proc-383-391}, DOI={10.1557/proc-383-391}, journal={MRS Proceedings}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Houston, M. R. and Howe, R. T. and Komvopoulos, K and Maboudian, R.}, year={1995} }

JSON

{
  "indexed": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2024,
        6,
        7
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2024-06-07T17:59:31Z",
    "timestamp": 1717783171543
  },
  "reference-count": 28,
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "license": [
    {
      "start": {
        "date-parts": [
          [
            2011,
            2,
            15
          ]
        ],
        "date-time": "2011-02-15T00:00:00Z",
        "timestamp": 1297728000000
      },
      "content-version": "unspecified",
      "delay-in-days": 5889,
      "URL": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms"
    }
  ],
  "content-domain": {
    "domain": [],
    "crossmark-restriction": false
  },
  "published-print": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        1995
      ]
    ]
  },
  "abstract": "<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>The surface properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by a vacuum arc technique on smooth silicon wafers are presented with specific emphasis given to stiction reduction in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The low deposition temperatures afforded by the vacuum arc technique should allow for easy integration of the DLC films into the current fabrication process of typical surface micromachines by means of a standard lift-off processing technique. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle analysis, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the surface chemistry, microroughness, hydrophobicity, and adhesion forces of DLC-coated Si(100) surfaces were measured and correlated to the measured water contact angles. DLC films were found to be extremely smooth and possess a water contact angle of 87\u00b0, which roughly corresponds to a surface energy of 22 mJ/m<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>. It is shown that the pull-off forces measured by AFM correlate well with the predicted capillary forces. Pull-off forces are reduced on DLC surfaces by about a factor of five compared to 10 nN pull-off forces measured on the RCA-cleaned silicon surfaces. In the absence of meniscus forces, the overall adhesion force is expected to decrease by over an order of magnitude to the van der Waals attractive force present between two DLC-coated surfaces- To further improve the surface properties of DLC, films were exposed to a fluorine plasma which increased the contact angle to 99\u00b0 and lowered the pull-off force by approximately 20% over that obtained with as-deposited DLC. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to stiction reduction in micromachines.</jats:p>",
  "DOI": "10.1557/proc-383-391",
  "type": "journal-article",
  "created": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2011,
        4,
        5
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2011-04-05T16:14:10Z",
    "timestamp": 1302020050000
  },
  "source": "Crossref",
  "is-referenced-by-count": 31,
  "title": "Diamond-Like Carbon Films for Silicon Passivation in Microelectromechanical Devices",
  "prefix": "10.1557",
  "volume": "383",
  "author": [
    {
      "given": "M. R.",
      "family": "Houston",
      "sequence": "first",
      "affiliation": []
    },
    {
      "given": "R. T.",
      "family": "Howe",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": []
    },
    {
      "given": "K",
      "family": "Komvopoulos",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": []
    },
    {
      "given": "R.",
      "family": "Maboudian",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": []
    }
  ],
  "member": "297",
  "published-online": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2011,
        2,
        15
      ]
    ]
  },
  "reference": [
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref001",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1007/978-94-011-0725-9"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref021",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1557/JMR.1995.0165"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref026",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1115/1.2831521"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref005",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1109/SOLSEN.1992.228292"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref007",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1007/978-1-4684-0335-0"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref015",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1063/1.354431"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref010",
      "unstructured": "10 Mulhern G.T. , Soane D.S. , and Howe R.T. , Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, Transducers 93, Yokohama, Japan, June 2\u20135, 1993, p. 296."
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref003",
      "unstructured": "3 Howe R.T. , 13th Sensor Symposium, IEEE of Japan, June 8\u20139, 1995."
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref006",
      "unstructured": "6 Legtenberg R. , Elders J. , and Elwenspoek M. , Proc. 7th Int. Conf Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, Transducers 93, Yokohama, Japan, June 2\u20135, 1993, p. 198."
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref016",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1063/1.358408"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref014",
      "first-page": "L169",
      "volume": "5",
      "author": "Veerasamy",
      "year": "1993",
      "journal-title": "J. Phys.: Cond Matter"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref002",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1557/S0883769400060176"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref025",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1116/1.579248"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref013",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/0257-8972(94)90191-0"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref012",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1063/1.1144756"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref022",
      "volume-title": "Contact Angle, Wettability, and Adhesion: Advances in Chemistry Series",
      "volume": "43",
      "author": "Good",
      "year": "1964"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref023",
      "volume-title": "Graphite Fluorides - Studies in Inorganic Chemistry",
      "volume": "8",
      "author": "Watanabe",
      "year": "1988"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref009",
      "first-page": "368",
      "volume-title": "Proc. IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Workshop",
      "author": "Deng",
      "year": "1995"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref004",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/0924-4247(90)85001-K"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref024",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1002/pen.760241302"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref017",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1063/1.358516"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref020",
      "volume-title": "Surface and Colloid Science Vol. II: Experimental Methods",
      "author": "Neumann",
      "year": "1979"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref018",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2753"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref008",
      "unstructured": "8 Fedder G.K. , Ph. D.Thesis, Dept. of EECS, Univ. of Calif at Berkeley, Sept. 1994."
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref011",
      "volume-title": "Intermolecular and Surface Forces",
      "author": "Israelachvili",
      "year": "1985"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref019",
      "unstructured": "19 Houston M.R. and Maboudian R. , submitted to.. Appl. Phys., (1995)."
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref027",
      "first-page": "111",
      "volume-title": "Proc. IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. An Invest. of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines, and Systems",
      "author": "Torii",
      "year": "1993"
    },
    {
      "key": "S1946427400278135_ref028",
      "unstructured": "28 Houston M.R. , Maboudian R. , and Howe R. T. , Proc. 8th int. conf Solid-Slate Sensors and Actuators, Transducers 95, Stockholm, Sweden, June 25\u201329, 1995."
    }
  ],
  "container-title": "MRS Proceedings",
  "original-title": [],
  "language": "en",
  "link": [
    {
      "URL": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1946427400278135",
      "content-type": "unspecified",
      "content-version": "vor",
      "intended-application": "similarity-checking"
    }
  ],
  "deposited": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2021,
        2,
        24
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2021-02-24T20:41:31Z",
    "timestamp": 1614199291000
  },
  "score": 1,
  "resource": {
    "primary": {
      "URL": "http://link.springer.com/10.1557/PROC-383-391"
    }
  },
  "subtitle": [],
  "short-title": [],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        1995
      ]
    ]
  },
  "references-count": 28,
  "alternative-id": [
    "S1946427400278135"
  ],
  "URL": "http://dx.doi.org/10.1557/PROC-383-391",
  "relation": {},
  "ISSN": [
    "0272-9172",
    "1946-4274"
  ],
  "subject": [],
  "container-title-short": "MRS Proc.",
  "published": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        1995
      ]
    ]
  },
  "article-number": "391"
}