Investigations of Wafer Scale Etching with Xenon Difluoride

A good and uniform bulk silicon wafer etching method can be applied to the wafer thinning process in MEMS and 3D applications. In this study, the use of a Xenon Difluoride (XeF2) gas-phase etching system, operating at room temperature, has been investigated for bulk silicon wafer thinning. We investigated the Si-wafer surface morphology and profile following each XeF2 etching process cycle. Theoretical results are used to compare with the experimental results as well. A clean wafer surface by proper surface treatments is significant to achieve a uniform surface profile and morphology for XeF2 etching. A proper design of etching cycle with nitrogen ambient during etching is necessary to achieve the fastest and uniform silicon etching rate. The silicon etching rate is reported as a function of etching pressure, nitrogen pressure, and etching duration.