Aspect Ratio-Dependent Etching in Silicon using XeF2: Experimental Investigation and Comparative Analysis with Dry Etching Methods

Abstract Silicon machining plays a crucial role in shaping three-dimensional structures for micro-electro-mechanical systems applications. This study investigates aspect ratio dependent etching (ARDE) across various silicon etching processes, with a particular focus on Xenon Difluoride etching, in comparison to reactive ion etching (RIE) and Deep RIE . By exploring different etching parameters, the study highlights the presence of ARDE in both plasma and non-plasma etching processes. Additionally, it is demonstrated that ARDE can be modeled by a saturating exponential function through experimental adjustment of parameters, enabling the estimation of etching profiles.