Advanced stress analysis by micro-structures realization on high quality hetero-epitaxial 3C-SiC for MEMS application

SiC is a candidate material for micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). The fabrication of SiC MEMS-based sensors requires new processes able to realize microstructures on either bulk material or on the SiC surface. The hetero-epitaxial growth of 3C-SiC on silicon substrates allows one to overcome the traditional limitations of SiC microfabrication, but the high residual stress created during the film grow limits the development of the material for these applications. In order to evaluate the amount of residual stress released from the epi-film, different micro-machined structures were developed. Finite elements simulations of the micro-machined structures have also been carried out in order to evaluate, in detail, the stress field inside the structures and to test the analytical model used. With finite element modeling a exponential approximation of the stress relationship was studied, yielding a better fit with the experimental data. This study shows that this new approximation of the total residual stress function reduces the disagreement between experimental and simulated data.