Cavendish Kinetics Limited

Brian I Troy

Mickael Renault

Joseph Damian Gordon Lacey

Thomas L Maguire

James F Bobey

The present invention generally relates to a method of fabricating a MEMS device. In the MEMS device, a movable plate is disposed within a cavity such that the movable plate is movable within the cavity. To form the cavity, sacrificial material may be deposited and then the material of the movable plate is deposited thereover. The sacrificial material is removed to free the mov able plate to move within the cavity. The sacrificial material, once deposited, may not be sufficiently planar because the height difference between the lowest point and the highest point of the sacrificial material may be quite high. To ensure the movable plate is sufficiently planar, the planarity of the sacrificial material should be maximized. To maximize the surface planarity of the sacrificial material, the sacrificial material may be deposited and then conductive heated to permit the sacrificial material to reflow and thus, be planarized.

Method of forming planar sacrificial material in a MEMS device

The present invention generally relates to a MEMS device in which silicon residues from the adhesion promoter material are reduced or even eliminated from the cavity floor. The adhesion promoter is typically used to adhere sacrificial material to material above the substrate. The adhesion promoter is the removed along with then sacrificial material. However, the adhesion promoter leaves silicon based residues within the cavity upon removal. The inventors have discovered that the adhesion promoter can be removed from the cavity area prior to depositing the sacrificial material. The adhesion promoter which remains over the remainder of the substrate is sufficient to adhere the sacrificial material to the substrate without fear of the sacrificial material delaminating. Because no adhesion promoter is used in the cavity area of the device, no silicon residues will be present within the cavity after the switching element of the MEMS device is freed.

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San Mateo, CA, United States of America

Brian I Troy