Claims
- 1. A process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible material laid out to form at least a portion of said microelectromechanical device and at least one layer of an erodible material, comprising the steps of:
- using the layer of non-erodible material as a mask and anisotropically etching any of said layer of erodible material not occluded by said layer of non-erodible material; and
- gas etching said substrate to form a pit under at least a beam portion of said microelectromechanical device to free said beam portion of said microelectromechanical device from said substrate.
- 2. The process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device of claim 1 wherein said non-erodible material is a metal conductor and said erodible material is an insulator.
- 3. The process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device of claim 2 wherein said conductor is aluminum and said insulator is an oxide, and wherein said step of anisotropic etching includes the step of ion etching in an oxygen rich atmosphere.
- 4. The process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device of claim 3 wherein said step of gas etching includes the step of gas etching with a fluoride gas.
- 5. The process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device of claim 4 wherein said fluoride gas is CF.sub.4 NO.sub.2.
- 6. A process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device from a substrate carrying at least one layer of a non-erodible conductive aluminum mask material laid out to form at least a portion of said microelectromechanical device and at least one layer of an erodible insulative oxide material, comprising the steps of:
- anisotropic etching any of said layer of erodible material not occluded by said layer of non-erodible material using an ion etch in an oxygen rich atmosphere; and
- gas etching said substrate to form a pit under at least a beam portion of said microelectromechanical device to free said beam portion of said microelectromechanical device from the substrate.
- 7. The process of fabricating a microelectromechanical device of claim 6 wherein said step of gas etching includes the step of gas etching with a fluoride gas.
- 8. The process for fabricating a microelectromechanical device of claim 7 wherein said fluoride gas is CF.sub.4 No.sub.2.
- 9. The process of claim 1 wherein said microelectromechanical device includes a positioning portion, and wherein said step of gas etching includes the step of gas etching for a period to time sufficient to etch a pit under said beam portion but insufficient to form a pit under said positioning portion.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/505,836 filed on Jul. 21, 1995 entitled "Microelectromechanical Structure and Process of Making Same".
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
505836 |
Jul 1995 |
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