An optimized deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process for the fabrication of SiC microstructures has been developed. The optimized process enables the etching of 4H and 6H SiC to depths > 100 μm with the required characteristics of (1) high rate (>0.5 μm/min), (2) vertical sidewalls, (3) minimal microtrenching at the sidewall base, and (4) smooth etched surfaces. The optimized process was deter...

A droplet deposited on a rough, lyophilic surface satisfying the imbibition condition, results in spontaneous spreading and hence complete wetting. However, in this thesis, we demonstrate that this wetting behavior can be altered by superheating the substrate such that droplets can reside in a non-wetting state due to evaporation. Photolithography and deep reactive ion etching were used to fabr...

 Thinning of micromachined wafers containing trenches and cavities to realize through-chip interconnects is presented. Successful thinning of wafers by lapping and polishing until the cavities previously etched by deep reactive ion etching are reached is demonstrated. The possible causes of damage to the etched structures are investigated. The trapping of particles in the cavities is studied a...

This paper introduces a new microchannel design for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow that maximizes MHD pumping power. An electromagnetic channel (EMC), which has a rectangular cross-section and electrodes that run the full length of the channels, is the key design element. EMC fabrication on Si requires a two-mask process. ICP-RIE was employed to open rectangular grooves, and then an insulation ...

We present a comparison of three different technologies for the fabrication of microoptical elements with arbitrary surfaces. We used direct laser writing, binary mask lithography in combination with reactive ion etching, and graytone lithography.

Damage free etching is required for the gate etching process in GaAs IC fabrication. While inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is thought to be the low damage etching technique, the degradation of DC characteristics was observed in our GaAs MESFETs. Threshold voltage shifts and Schottky barrier height is decreased. It was confirmed that the control of the antenna power (i.e. applied power to the u...

This paper presents the fabrication process, characterization results and basic functionality of silicon microneedles array with biodegradable tips. In order to avoid the main problems related to silicon microneedles: broking of the top part of the needles inside the skin, a simple solution can be fabrication of microneedles array with biodegradable tips. The silicon microneedles array was fabr...