[mems-talk] Etching and drilling glass cover slips

[Kirt Williams]

Jefferey--

You probably won't be able to get straight sidewalls in the oxide unless you 
use DRIE (e.g., from STS), and the Trion can't do DRIE.
Even if you could do DRIE, etch rates are slower than 1 um/min, so it would 
take forever to get through a cover slip.

If your holes are larger that about 0.7 mm diameter, you can use a diamond 
drill. One brand I've used is Tripple Ripple from Crystalite Corp.
Put the bit in a Dremmel tool and run at 10k-20krpm. Add water for cooling. 
You can buy a "drill press" to hold the Dremel motor so that it makes a 
straight hole.

    --Kirt Williams

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Yue Mun Pun, Jeffrey" <g0500396 at nus.edu.sg>
To: "General MEMS discussion" <mems-talk at memsnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 9:28 PM
Subject: [mems-talk] Etching and drilling glass cover slips


> Hi,
> I intend to etch through holes and/or cut glass cover slips.  Can anyone 
> suggest methods to use?  I was intending to use a Trion RIE machine.  What 
> chemistry and etch rate is suitable?  Can I pattern a layer of Gold or 
> Chromium (say 100nm thick) on the glass before etching it?