Room temperature synthesis of silicon dioxide thin films for MEMS and silicon surface texturing

Abstract

In the present work, the room temperature deposited silicon dioxide thin films are explored for the fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) components and the surface texturing for crystalline silicon solar cell applications. The etch rates of as-grown oxide films are investigated in different concentration tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) solutions at different temperatures. In 25 wt% TAMH, the as-grown oxide is demonstrated as structural and masking layers for the fabrication of various kinds of MEMS components. Furthermore, the as-grown oxide is exploited as etch mask in KOH to texturize silicon wafer surface without using lithography.