Surface-micromachined silicon air-gap Bragg reflector for thermal infrared

We present a MEMS-based distributed Bragg reflector for thermal infrared (TIR) wavelengths 7 µm < λ < 12 µm. Surface micro-machining process flow was developed for [poly-Si/air-gap/poly-Si] λ/4-mirror using low-pressure chemical-vapour deposited SiO₂ as intra-mirror and mirror-to-substrate sacrificial layers. Circular 3 mm diameter mirrors with theoretical reflectance exceeding 99% were designed. Poly-Si layers of the mirror were anchored for retaining constant mutual distance. Anchoring density and mirror-to-substrate gap were varied among samples. We utilized scanning-electron microscope (SEM) imaging for qualitative estimation of processing result success as well as for layer-thickness measurements. We characterized the mirror topography and mechanical response under local point loading by scanning with a stylus profilometer. Fourier-transform IR (FT-IR) spectroscopy was utilized in studies of a reflectance spectrum. A one-dimensional computer simulation was allowed to fit model parameters to FT-IR data. Best-fit thicknesses of air gaps and poly-Si layers were compared with design parameters and with SEM measurements in order to verify the final structure corresponding to the design.