Surface Micromachining

Unlike Bulk micromachining, where a silicon substrate (wafer) is selectively etched to produce structures, surface micromachining builds microstructures by deposition and etching of different structural layers on top of the substrate. Generally polysilicon is commonly used as one of the layers and silicon dioxide is used as a sacrificial layer which is removed or etched out to create the necessary void in the thickness direction. Added layers are generally very thin with their size varying from 2-5 Micro metres. The main advantage of this machining process is the possibility of realizing monolithic microsystems in which the electronic and the mechanical components(functions) are built in on the same substrate. The surface micromachined components are smaller compared to their counterparts, the bulk micromachined ones.

As the structures are built on top of the substrate and not inside it, the substrate's properties are not as important as in bulk micromachining, and the expensive silicon wafers can be replaced by cheaper substrates, such as glass or plastic. The size of the substrates can also be much larger than a silicon wafer, and surface micromachining is used to produce TFTs on large area glass substrates for flat panel displays. This technology can also be used for the manufacture of thin film solar cells, which can be deposited on glass, but also on PET substrates or other non-rigid materials.