Handbook of Silicon Based MEMS Materials and Technologies

Chapter Five. Silicon Wafers - Preparation and Properties

MEMS manufacturing sets, in many respects, special requirements for silicon wafers, and in some processes—for example, those based on bulk micromachining and deep anisotropic wet etching—standard wafers intended for normal semiconductor use may show poor results. Standard polished silicon wafers used in semiconductor manufacturing are extensively standardized by SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) [1, 2]. These standards stipulate most of the important parameters, like dimensions, dimensional tolerances, key measurement techniques, etc. Standards, however, in many situations give only guidelines, and especially when specifying wafers for MEMS use, care has to be ...