Module 1a

MSE
693
Materials Science Technologies for
Applications in Life Sciences
Microfabrication Techniques I
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Microfabrication
• Production of devices in the submicron to millimetre range
– Hard
• Silicon
– Soft
• Skills
– Material science, mechanical, electrical, chemical, computer science,
biological engineers
– Set the process design steps that will result in the final device
• Research, prototype, commercial application techniques
– Equipment availability
– Cleanliness of the fabrication facility
– Ability for mass production
– Quality control
http://www.memx.com/MEMS%20close%20post%20actuator.jpg
http://www.ansys.com/industries/images/mems‐sandia‐24‐bit‐lock.jpg
Materials for MEMS
• Most materials for microelectronics and MEMS
are same
– Single crystal silicon wafers
– Deposited layers of polycrystalline silicon for resistive
application
– Aluminium, copper and gold for conductors
– Silicon dioxide for insulation and as sacrificial layer
– Silicon nitride for electrical insulation and passivation
Materials for MEMS
• Polymers
• Hydrogels
– Shrink or swell when exposed to environmental changes
• Electroactive polymers
– Change shape and structure when exposed to electrical stimuli
• Modification
– Polymeric backbone moieties
– Covalent modification of polymer surfaces for interaction with biological
sunstances
– Creation of hydrophobic or hydrophilic regions
– Surface modification including
• Antibodies
• DNA fragments
• Biological materials
Electronic Grade Silicon
• Quartzite is heated with carbon‐releasing
materials forming metallurgical grade silicon
(MGS)
SiO2(s) + 2C  Si (s) + 2CO (g), T ≈ 1900°C
• MGS is treated with hydrogen chloride to form
trichlorosilane
Si + 3HCl  SiHCl3(g) + H2(g)
• Fractional distillation reduction with hydrogen
produces electronic grade silicon
SiHCl3(g) + H2(g)  Si(s) + 3HCl(g)
Single Crystal Silicon
• Czochralski process
– Seed crystal determines the
final crystal orientation
– Silicon crystal is gradually
pulled upward by a rod
connected to a rotating seed
crystal
– The rotating seed‐bearing rod
is pulled back few mm/min
http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~jones/es154/lectures/lecture_2/materials/Czochralski_1.gif
Lithography
Fundamentals of BioMEMS and Medical Microdevices
Lithography
• Lithography mask
– Expose photoresist at specific places
• Etching, thin film deposition, etc.
Mask Creation
• Mask serves as ‘stencil’ to generate pattern on a
resist‐coated surface
Lithography
Mask Creation
Mask Creation
• Mask serves as ‘stencil’ to generate pattern on a
resist‐coated surface
• Glass or quartz is used
– Transparent to UV
– Chromium is used to block UV light
• Direct contact or proximity contact (10‐20 µm)
• Masks designed by softwares
– L‐Edit
Mask Creation
• Projection lithography
http://www‐optics.unine.ch/former/microoptics/Microlens_Projection_Lithography/MPL_setup.gif
Wafer Cleaning
• Wafers are ordered based according to
requirement
• Usually coated with thin film
• The success of microfabrication process depends
on the cleanliness
• Standard cleaning (SC) procedures
• SC1 (RCA1)
– One part NH3 with five part deionized water
– Boiling then adding one part H2O2
– Immersing wafer for ten minutes to remove dirt
Wafer Cleaning
• Standard cleaning 2 (RCA2)
– One part HCl and six parts deionized water, heating
to boiling
– Adding one part H2O2 and immersing wafer for ten
minutes to remove metal ions
Thermal Silicon Dioxide
• Thermal oxidation produces oxide < 1µm
• Oxide is used as
– Insulating layer
– Mask
– Diffusion barrier
– Sacrificial material
• Thermal oxidation is performed by rapid thermal
annealing process
– Wafer is heated rapidly
– Most common way
Si(s) + O2(g)  SiO2(s), 900‐1200°C
• Thermal oxidation is carried in atmospheric
furnace
Si(s) + O2(g)  SiO2(s), 900‐1200°C
• Thermal oxidation is carried in atmospheric
furnace
• Wafers are placed upright
Photolithography
Resist Application
• Photoresist
– Photosensitive polymer
– Spun coated on wafer with high speeds 4000 rpm
• Uniformity is required
• Thin and pinhole free film
• Leaves smooth film with roughness less than 1 nm
Resist Application
Resist
• Coating
– Thin, uniform, pinhole free film
• Good adherence to silicon
• High sensitivity (to UV)
• Developing
– Significant difference in develop rate between the exposed and unexposed
areas
• High contrast to UV exposure
• Process resistance
– Good etching resistance to etching solutions, high dose ion implantation,
plasma etching process
• Good resolution
• Easy processing
• High purity
• Long shelf life
• Safety: no health hazard
Resist Application
Resist Application: Baking
Resist Application
• Coating thickness
– Depends on the features
– Feature size 0.18 µm require resist thickness of 1 µm
• Baking
– Wafers are ‘soft baked’ at around 75‐100°C
– Removes solvent in the photoresist
• Type of photoresists
– Positive tone
– Negative tone
Resist Application
• Positive tone photoresist
– Opaque regions of the mask are protected
– Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
– Diazoquinone ester plus phenolic novolak resin
(DQN)
• Negative tone
– SU‐8
Resist Application
Phololithography by Scotten W Jones
Resist Critical Parameters
• Dose to clear
Resist Critical Parameters
• Dose to clear
• Gamma
• Thickness loss
• Glass transition
• Viscosity
UV Exposure: Mask
UV Exposure
• Mask is placed into a cassette and then into the
UV exposure machine
• Resist coated wafer is placed on adjustable tray
and aligned
UV Exposure
UV Exposure
UV exposure machine
and aligned
– Alignment is crucial for forming complex multilayer
structures
UV Exposure: Alignment
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UV Exposure: Alignment
Phololithography by Scotten W Jones
UV Exposure
UV exposure machine
and aligned
– Alignment is crucial for forming complex multilayer
structures
• Near UV light (350‐500 nm) is used to expose
the wafer
– Mercury lamps optimized for g‐line (435 nm) and i‐
line (365 nm)
UV Exposure
Development
• Developer removes the photoresist specifically resulting
in features
• Positive resist
– UV weakens the polymer bonds
– Developer removes the areas exposed by UV
– Usually tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH), KOH
based, or aqueous alkaline solutions
• Negative resist
– UV crosslinks the resist
– Developer removes area that were not exposed by UV
– Usually are organic solutions
Development
Development
• Post‐baking or ‘hard baking’
– To prevent resist breakdown
– Very controlled process
• Prevent unwanted breakdown or excessive hardening
• Etching follows lithography process
– Physical
– Chemical
• Wet etching
– H2SO4 and H2SO4‐Cr2O3
– Attacks photoresist but not oxide or silicon
• Dry etching
– Dry stripping or oxygen plasma stripping
– Offers better control, less corrosion, better surface
Terminology
• Critical dimension
– Smallest feature size to be produced
• Resolution
– Smallest line width to be consistently patterned
• Line width control
– Refers to dimensions that must be controlled within
± 20% of the minimum feature size
• High intrinsic resist sensitivity
– Photochemical quantum efficiency
Terminology
• Photochemical quantum efficiency
Φ = (number of photo‐induced events) / (number
of photons absorbed)
• G‐value
– Number of polymer scissions or cross‐links per 100
eV of absorbed energy
Theoretical Limits to Resolution
• Resolution limited by
– Diffraction of light at the edge of an opaque feature
– Alignment of wafer to mask
– Nonuniformities in wafer flatness
– Contamination
R = bmin = (3/2) √(λ ( s + z/2))
– bmin: half the grating period and minimum feature
size transferable
– s: gap between mask and photoresist surface
– λ: wavelength of exposing radiation
– z: photoresist thickness Instructor: Vivek Verma
Etching Methods
• Dry etching
– Plasma methods
• Wet etching
– Chemical liquids
• Advantages and disadvantages

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