Etching characteristics and properties of {1 1 0} silicon crystal planes used as 45° optical mirrors for deflecting optical beams from/to optical fibers were investigated. Fiber aligning grooves and passive mirror-like planes were realized by wet micromachining of (1 0 0) silicon in KOH–IPA and TMAH–IPA systems. Implementation of Triton-x-100 surfactant as an additive to 25% TMAH in anisotropic etching of {1 1 0} silicon passive mirror planes is reported and discussed. It was found that Triton-x-100 contents in the range of 10–200 ppm to the 25% TMAH–water etchant significantly increase the anisotropy mostly by decreasing the {1 1 0} etch rate and retaining the {1 0 0} etch rate. It is also shown that {1 1 0} surface roughness is substantially improved compared to two other etching systems. Furthermore, efficient convex corner underetching reduction is demonstrated. The results of optical characterization of passive mirrors with 632 nm incident light show reduced scattering of reflected optical beam due to improved microroughness for mirrors made by TMAH–Triton. For the reflection of the optical beam with 1.33 µm and 1.54 µm wavelengths, sputtered layer of gold is used as reflective coating on silicon mirrors thus increasing the reflected optical beam intensity by an additional 8%.

Investigation was focused on the formation of {311} planes by wet anisotropic etching of (100) silicon and, in particular, on the characterization by means of surface roughness, etch rates and related convex and concave corner dynamic behaviour during maskless etching. KOH and TMAH water solutions were tested for their influence on previously mentioned parameters as well as the effect of isopropyl alcohol (IPA). It was found that convex corner undercutting is significantly reduced if {311} bounding planes are utilized instead of {111} bounding planes. For shallow structures a self-compensation can be obtained with KOH and when certain conditions are met, also with TMAH. The rounding of the concave corner that arises through prolonged etching is reported, which is particularly emphasized in KOH and less in TMAH etchant. Addition of IPA in maskless mode is experimentally investigated, showing minor influence on etching conditions and on reducing the undercut of convex corners. Etch rates and dimensional control of some microstructures are discussed and presented comparatively for different etching systems in a temperature range of 50-100 °C. By evaluation of surface quality with a surface profiler and SEM, it was found that the smoothest surface was achieved by etching in TMAH. The role of solution temperature in surface roughness was found to be of minor importance, as well as the stirring of the solution. It was determined that the IPA additive increases roughness when used with KOH, while with TMAH, the influence on roughness of the {311} planes is insignificant.

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Abstract-Blumlein generators are used in different applications such as radars, lasers, and also recently in various biomedical studies, where the effects of high-voltage nanosecond pulses on biological cells are evaluated. In these studies, it was demonstrated that by applying high-voltage nanosecond pulses to cells, plasma membrane and cell organelles are permeabilized. As suggested in a recent publication, the repetition rate and polarity of nanosecond high-voltage pulses could have an important effect on the electropermeabilization process, and consequently, on the observed phenomena. Therefore, we designed a new Blumlein configuration that enables a higher repetition rate of variable duration of either bipolar or unipolar high-voltage pulses. We achieved a maximal pulse repetition rate of 1.1 MHz. However, theoretically, this rate could be even higher. We labeled endocytotic vesicles with lucifer yellow and added propidium iodide to a cell suspension for testing the cell plasma membrane integrity, so we were able to observe the permeabilization of endocytotic vesicles and the cell plasma membrane at the same time. The new design of pulse generator was built, verified, and also tested in experiments. The resulting flexibility and variability allow further in vitro experiments to determine the importance of the pulse repetition rate and pulse polarity on membrane permeabilization-both of the cell plasma membrane as well as of cell organelle membranes.