Real-time optical thickness determination for producing ultra-thin silicon membranes using anisotropic potassium hydroxide etching

Abstract Thinning silicon wafers via wet etching is a common practice in the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) industry to produce membranes and other structures Wang (Nano Lett 13(9): 4393–4398, 2013). Controlling the thickness of a membrane is a critical aspect to optimize the functionality of these devices. Our research specifically focuses on the production of bio-membranes for lung-on-a-chip (LoaC) applications. In our fabrication, it is crucial for us to determine the membranes’ thickness in a non-invasive way. This study aims to address this issue by attempting to develop a tool that uses the optical properties of light transmission through silicon to find a correlation with thickness. To find this correlation, we conducted a small experimental study where we fabricated ultra-thin membranes and captured images of the light transmission through these samples. This paper will report the correlation found between calculated average intensities of these images and measurements done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Graphical abstract