Achievements and Perspectives of the Drie Technology for the Microsystems Market

This paper presents the evolution of the DRIE of silicon over the last decade. Starting with the initial MEMS product requirements, the DRIE demonstrated its potential to improve the delivered performances in line with the evolution of the Microsystems requirements. In less than a decade, the DRIE etching rate and aspect ratio have been multiplied by an impressive factor of 10. This outstanding capabilities favored its adoption in new microelectronic applications which lead to a step forward in the development of an extended range of tools and processes. As a result, the Microsystems will benefit from those latest developments.