Design and Fabrication of Double-Layer Crossed Si Microchannel Structure

Abstract

A four-step etching method is used to prepare the double-layer cross Si microchannel structure. In the first etching step, a V-groove structure is etched on (100) silicon, and the top channel is formed after thermal oxidation with the depth of the channel and the slope of its sidewall being modulated by the etching time. The second etching step is to form a sinking substrate, and then the third step is to etch the bottom channel at 90° ( direction) and 45° ( direction) with the top channel, respectively. Hence, the bottom channel on the sink substrate is half-buried into the top channel. Undercut characteristic of 25% TMAH is used to perform the fourth step, etching through the overlapping part of the two layers of channels to form a double-layer microchannel structure. Different from the traditional single-layer microchannels, the double-layer crossed microchannels are prepared by the four-step etching method intersect in space but are not connected, which has structural advantages. Finally, when the angle between the top and bottom is 90°, the root cutting time at the intersection is up to 6 h, making the width of the bottom channel 4–5 times that of the top channel. When the angle between the top and bottom is 45°, the root cutting time at the intersection is only 4 h, and due to the corrosion along (111), the corrosion speed of the sidewall is very slow and the consistency of the width of the upper and lower channels is better than 90° after the end. Compared with the same-plane cross channel structure, the semiburied microchannel structure avoids the V-shaped path at the intersection, and the fluid can pass through the bottom channel in a straight line and cross with the top channel without overlapping, which has a structural advantage. If applied to microfluidic technology, high-efficiency delivery of two substances can be carried out independently in the same area; if applied to microchannel heat dissipation technology, the heat conduction area of the fluid can be doubled under the same heat dissipation area, thereby increasing the heat dissipation efficiency.

Keywords

• MEMS
• silicon
• wet etching
• microchannel