The effect of ultrasonic vibration and surfactant additive on fabrication of 53.5gr/mm silicon echelle grating with low surface roughness in alkaline KOH solution.

In the silicon echelle grating fabrication process, the "pseudo-mask" formed by the hydrogen bubbles generated during the etching process is the reason causing high surface roughness and poor surface quality of blazed plane. Based upon the ultrasonic mechanical effect and contact angle reduced by surfactant additive, ultrasonic vibration, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and 2,4,7,9-Tetramethyl-5-decyne-4,7-diol (TMDD) were used to improve surface quality of 53.5gr/mm echelle grating. The surface roughness Rq is smaller than 18nm, 7nm and 2nm when using ultrasonic vibration, IPA and TMDD respectively. The surface roughness Rq is smaller than 5nm and 1.5nm respectively when combining ultrasonic vibration with IPA and TMDD. The experimental results indicated that the combination of ultrasonic agitation and surfactant additive (IPA&TMDD) could obtain a lower surface roughness of blazed plane in silicon echelle grating fabrication process.