Micromachining of silicon for thermal and position-sensitive nuclear detector applications

As part of a programme aiming at the development of small nuclear radiation detectors, for example thermal detectors and position sensitive mosaic structures of surface barrier type, a technique for micromachining the detector bodies in silicon has been developed. The technique is based on an anisotropic etching property of a solution, mainly consisting of KOH. The etch rate is strongly orientation dependent with a speed in the 〈100〉 direction about 400 times faster than in the 〈111〉 direction. The major steps in the etching procedure are described and some examples of deep etching in Si are shown.