Technical Papers and Presentations

The void shape evolution of silicon is a process driven mainly by surface diffusion which leads to a geometrical transformation of trenches etched in silicon wafers due to surface energy minimization. The temperature, the ambient gas and the annealing time affect the velocity of the process.

The use of custom PDEs in COMSOL Multiphysics® software and the Level-Set method provide a good base platform for the analysis of time dependent structures which are not possible to follow in an actual experiment. This can optimize the process (temperature and pressure) when a desired geometry must be achieved. Thus, it helps to the prediction of the void shape evolution which improves the controllability and the feasibility of building new SON (Silicon-On-Nothing) devices.