Fabrication of high frequency nanometer scale mechanical resonators from bulk Si crystals

We report on a method to fabricate nanometer scale mechanical structures from bulk, single-crystal Si substrates. A technique developed previously required more complex fabrication methods and an undercut step using wet chemical processing. Our method does not require low pressure chemical vapor deposition of intermediate masking layers, and the final step in the processing uses a dry etch technique, avoiding the difficulties encountered from surface tension effects when wet processing mechanically delicate or large aspect ratio structures. Using this technique, we demonstrate fabrication of a mechanical resonator with a fundamental resonance frequency of 70.72 MHz and a quality factor of 2 x 10(4). (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.