A new release process in surface micromachining-double mask technology

This paper presents a new process for releasing micromechanical structures in surface micromachining with polysilicon support and LPCVD Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ embedded mask for one polysilicon layer process, which is CMOS compatible and can be adjusted to be suitable for the structure stiffness by changing the distance between two supports. This process may be used for multipolysilicon layer process. The results of test structures show that this process may be a good technology to eliminate the sticking of microstructures to the substrate during the wafer drying after the sacrificial etching process.