Simulation of 3D Anisotropic Crystal Etching with VICTORY Process

1. Introduction

Anisotropic crystal etching is the common technique used in Micro Electromechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturing. It uses the property of some single crystal materials, like silicon, of having different etching rates in different crystal directions when the material is etched in special chemicals, such as potassium hydroxide (KOH). Predicting the resulting shape of the structure under such conditions requires full three-dimensional simulation of the evolution of the etched surface.

Silvaco’s 3D process simulator VICTORY Process is perfectly suitable for such task. The numerical engine of VICTORY Process is able to accurately model physical etching with complicated distributions of etch rates over the surface even for initial structures with complex three-dimensional topographies.