[mems-talk] cantilevers from clamped beams

[vaibhav mathur]

hi all,

I make two ends clamped beams of AlGaAs over GaAs, using dry and wet etch techniques.

Now i want to form cantilevers out of these beams, by either cleaving or modification of my lithography process. 

I have tried excimer laser ablation technique to cut the clamped beams, i formed the cantilevers, but the quality of the facets was bad due to melting.. 

I also tried femtosecond laser cutting, again, quality not great. 

I desire a spacing of 1-3 microns between the two facets of the clamped beams,after they are ablated. Also I need clean cut because, I am goin to couple light from one beam to the other.

Can someone suggest a technique for going about doing this, i do not have access to a FIB (focussed ion beam) milling, and e-beam lithography is too time consuming as my device is in millimeters.

is there some way of introducing a 1-3 micron cut on my lithography pattern before I do the dry and wet etch, i do not have a mask with this kind of a feature size?

any suggestions will be helpful

regards
vaibhav mathur
photonics center
university of massachusetts,lowell