MICROMECHANICS COMPATIBLE WITH AN 0.8 MU-M CMOS PROCESS

Results on a new approach for the monolithic integration of micromechanics and electronics are presented. The same process steps and layers can be used for both the mechanical and the electronic elements. This is a promising process concept for integrated microelectromechanical systems with a minimum of additional costs compared to the standard electronics process. Results on the fabrication of micromechanical structures using the process steps of a 0.8 mu m CMOS process are given. The sublimation technique is used to dry the released surface-micromachined structures and different sublimating chemicals are compared. The influences of polycrystalline and amorphous deposition as well as diffusion doping and ion implantation on the strain gradients of the structural layers are presented. A fabricated electrostatically deflectable and capacitively detectable cantilever is presented and the dependence of the capacitance on the drive voltage is shown. By using the presented theory and fitting calculations to the measured non-linear characteristic, a value of 170 GPa for Young's modulus of the polysilicon film is extracted.