Patent ID: 6365056
Filing Date: 2002-04-02
Classification: G01L

Abstract:
Process for making at least one suspended element by using an etching technique for micro-machining a structure comprising a substrate covered in sequence by a first layer called a stop layer made of a first material, and a second layer made of a second material in which the suspended element is formed, in which the process used is a dry etching technique using a gas with sufficient selectivity to enable etching of the second layer without etching the stop layer, under conditions defined to enable anisotropic etching of the second material, the etching being carried out according to a first phase to delimit the suspended element as far as the level of the stop layer and being continued in a second phase during which the suspended element is released by isotropic etching of the second layer of the suspended element delimited in the first phase and which is adjacent to the stop layer.