Micro-Raman Study of Stress Distribution and Thermal Relaxation of Oxidized Silicon Membranes

Composite SiO2/Si membranes are used in various type of sensors among them, resonant and pressure sensors. However due to a large thermal mismatch, residual induced stresses may affect the devices long term reliability especially for thin membranes (≈5 μm). In this study, we have characterized test structures consisting of SiO2/Si membranes with respective thickness ratio between 2 and 10. Micro-Raman Spectroscopy, well known to be an accurate, non destructive method to determine residual stresses in microelectronic devices, has shown to be a powerful testing technique to measure local stresses on micromachined structures such as membranes, with a high spatial (10 μm2 ) and stress resolution (8 MPa). At room temperature, Raman line (520 cm−1) shifts between 0.05 and 1 cm−1 are observed. Highest frequency shifts of 1cm−1 corresponds to a 230 MPa biaxial stress. Finite Element analysis (ANSYS) was used to model the thermal stress distribution over the micromachined bilayer membrane, yielding a satisfactorily agreement with the experimental results over a large membrane area. The Finite Element analysis was correlated with optical profilometer deflection measurements. Membrane deflections up to 48 μm (more than 10 times the membrane thickness) have been measured. Furthermore, Micro-Raman Spectroscopy results up to 300°C are shown and related to temperature dependent deflection measurements.