Hello, This kind of etching is load dependent, more silicon are you etching lower is etching rate. Likewise, etching could be depended on masking material. Best regards, Danilo -----Original Message----- From: mems-talk-bounces+danilo.vrtacnik=fe.uni-lj.si@memsnet.org [mailto:mems-talk-bounces+danilo.vrtacnik=fe.uni-lj.si@memsnet.org] On Behalf Of Jie Zou Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 3:09 AM To: General MEMS discussion Subject: Re: [mems-talk] CF4 : O2 RIE of silicon, variability You may also want to check whether your surface has a thin layer of native oxide. Jie On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 7:12 PM, l jwrote: > Hello all, > > I see great variablity in etch rate of silicon with RIE CF4:O2 etch. > > At one point I see etch rate of >1um/min, at other <0.1um/min. This is at same proces parameter setting (1:12 O2:CF4 ratio, 0.2T, 500W). > > Can anyone comment on what might casue such wide variability in etch rate at nominally constant process parameters? > > Thanks in advance, > K.C. >