X-ray diffraction characterization of suspended structures for MEMS applications

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of micro scanning X-ray diffraction to characterize mechanical stress in MEMS structures, specifically bilayer cantilevers and boron-doped silicon bridges, aiding stress control in micro/nanotechnologies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of X-ray diffraction for stress analysis in complex MEMS structures, supported by experimental results and numerical simulations.

Findings

X-ray diffraction effectively characterizes stress in MEMS structures.

Experimental results align with numerical simulations.

The technique offers sub-micron resolution for stress mapping.

Abstract

Mechanical stress control is becoming one of the major challenges for the future of micro and nanotechnologies. Micro scanning X-ray diffraction is one of the promising techniques that allows stress characterization in such complex structures at sub micron scales. Two types of MEMS structure have been studied: a bilayer cantilever composed of a gold film deposited on poly-silicon and a boron doped silicon bridge. X-ray diffraction results are discussed in view of numerical simulation experiments.