A taper angle control technique using thin-film layer stiction phenomenon

•We report a taper angle control technique easily achieved by simple processes.•The taper angle can be controlled by varying the thickness of the shade layer.•The taper angle formation is achieved by the thin-film stiction phenomenon.•With the proposed technique, the resistance and heat increment of line resistors are suppressed.

We propose a simple taper angle control technique which can be easily achieved by using conventional thin-film deposition and wet etching processes. Based on the proposed technique, the taper angle can be controlled below 30° by varying the thickness of the shade layer which will support the top layer by means of the thin-film stiction phenomenon. By applying the proposed technique to the thin-film line resistor structure, we can confirm that variations of the resistance and the heat generation of the thin-film line formed cross the shade structured multiple thin-film line bumps can be suppressed below 6%, while those of the line resistor formed over multiple line bumps without the shade layer are increased by 54.5% and 246.6%, respectively.