A novel integrated MEMS process using fluorocarbon films deposited with a deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) tool

Fluorocarbon films are useful as antistiction films for suspended structure and also for electrical isolation purposes. Furthermore, due to their low dielectric constant and ease of deposition they are useful for VLSI manufacturing applications. Thus, in the interest of building a complete database for these plasma generated fluorocarbon films, we report a designed experiment with a 4-variable matrix to fully characterize deposited films using C4F8 as the feed gas in a high density inductively coupled plasma tool. We also demonstrate the in-situ microfabrication of electrostatic actuators that exhibit the corresponding passivation film for electrical isolation. The utilization of these films as a masking material for MEMS applications and in triple nested mask arrangements is also demonstrated.