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Seminar on Micro-E.lectro-Mechanical armaimurrop ric•

during processing. Unfortunately, it is also more difficult to control with regards to film
thickness and uniformity. A schematic diagram of a typical setup for electroplating is
shown in the figure below.

WHEN DO WE WANT TO USE ELECTRODEPOS1TION?

The electrodeposition process is well suited to make films of metals such

as copper, gold and nickel. The films can be made in any thickness from —Ipm to
>100pm. The deposition is best controlled when used with an external electrical
potential, however, it requires electrical contact to the substrate when immersed in the
liquid bath. In any process, the surface of the substrate must have an electrically
conducting coating before the deposition can be done.

DC voltage source

contAiner
Eluctrical nrmaGlor
•

Elr liter solution

- Wafer
Counter elecirode

11111141 Vidafer 1
11
4

Figure 2: Typical setup.for electrodeposition.

EPITAXY

This technology is quite similar to what happens in CVD processes,

however, if the substrate is an ordered semiconductor crystal (i.e. silicon, gallium
arsenide), it is possible with this process to continue building on the substrate with the
same crystallographic orientation with the substrate acting as a seed for the deposition.
If an amorphous/polycrystalline substrate surface is used, the film will also be
amorphous or polycrystalline.

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 Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems I rrei cier _fir

There are several technologies for creating the conditions inside a reactor
needed to support epitaxial growth, of which the most important is Vapor Phase
Epitaxy (VPE)_ In this process, a number of gases are introduced in an induction heated
reactor where only the substrate is heated. The temperature of the substrate typically
must be at least 50% of the melting point of the material to be deposited.

An advantage of epitaxy is the high growth rate of material, which allows

the formation of films with considerable thickness (>100p.m). Epitaxy is a widely used
technology for producing silicon on insulator (501) substrates. The technology is
primarily used for deposition of silicon. A schematic diagram of a typical vapor phase
epitaxial reactor is shown in the figure below.

RF I nductiv e hea ting co il

 0
0 0 0 0 0
 • • •
...Wafer

I
Gas inlet • • - , , • • • • Graphite susceptor

Figure 3: Tipirai cold-wall vapor phase epitaxial reactor.

WHEN DO WE WANT TO USE ENTAXY?

This has been and continues to be an emerging process technology in

MEMS. The process can be used to form films of silicon with thicknesses of —1 pm to
>100pm. Some processes require high temperature exposure of the substrate, whereas
others do not require significant heating of the substrate. Some processes can even be
used to perform selective deposition, depending on the surface of the substrate.

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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
THERMALOXIDATION

This is one of the most basic deposition technologies. It is simply

oxidation of the substrate surface in an oxygen rich atmosphere. The temperature is
raised to 800' C-1100° C to speed up the process. This is also the only deposition
technology which actually consumes some of the substrate as it proceeds. The growth
of the film is spurned by diffusion of oxygen into the substrate, which means the film
growth is actually downwards into the substrate. As the thickness of the oxidized layer
increases, the diffusion of oxygen to the substrate becomes more difficult leading to a
parabolic relationship between film thickness and oxidation time for films thicker than —
100nm_ This process is naturally limited to materials that can be oxidized, and it can
only form films that are oxides of that material. This is the classical process used to
form silicon dioxide on a silicon substrate. A schematic diagram of a typical wafer
oxidation furnace is shown in the figure below.

WHENDOWEWANTTOUSETHERMALOXIDATION?

Whenever you can! This is a simple process, which unfortunately

produces films with somewhat limited use in ME MS components. It is typically used to
form films that are used for electrical insulation or that are used for other process
purposes later in a process sequence.

3-zone furnace

_________________________________________ Water vapor

or oxygen inlet

Quartz tube

Figure 4: Typical wafer oxidation .furnace.

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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
SEcrioN 4.1.2 Pin SICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (FWD)

PVD covers a number of deposition technologies in which material is

released from a source and transferred to the substrate. The two most important
technologies are evaporation and sputtering.

WHEN DO WE WANT TO USE PVD?

PVD comprises the standard technologies for deposition of metals. It is

far more common than CVD for metals since it can be performed at lower process risk
and cheaper in regards to materials cost. The quality of the films are inferior to CVD,
which for metals means higher resistivity and for insulators more defects and traps. The
step coverage is also not as good as D.

The choice of deposition method (i.e. evaporation vs. sputtering) may in

many cases be arbitrary, and may depend more on what technology is available for the
specific material at the time.

EvAPORATiON

In evaporation the substrate is placed inside a vacuum chamber, in which

a block (source) of the material to be deposited is also located. The source material is
then heated to the point where it starts to boil and evaporate. The vacuum is required to
allow the molecules to evaporate freely in the chamber, and they subsequently condense
on all surfaces. This principle is the same for all evaporation technologies, only the
method used to the heat (evaporate) the source material differs. There are two popular
evaporation technologies, which are a-beam evaporation and resistive evaporation each
referring to the heating method. In c-beam evaporation, an electron beam is aimed at
the source material causing local heating, and evaporation. In resistive evaporation, a
tungsten boat, containing the source material, is heated electrically with a high current
to make the material evaporate. Many materials are restrictive in terms of what
evaporation method can be used (i.e. aluminum is quite difficult to evaporate using
resistive heating), which typically relates to the phase transition properties of that
material. A schematic diagram of a typical system for c-beam evaporation is shown in
the figure below.

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 Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems I ram, hal iner Me-c-11 - 1. ine,lea-g

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Vacuum hum

i N.
e T rrarrruci ion io Nam •B rot
_
_

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Figure 5: Typical system for e-beam evaporation of materials.

SPUTTERING

Sputtering is a technology in which the material is released from the

source at much lower temperature than evaporation_ The substrate is placed in a
vacuum chamber with the source material, named a target, and an inert gas (such as
argon) is introduced at low pressure. Gas plasma is struck using an RF power source,
causing the gas to become ionized. The ions are accelerated towards the surface of the
target, causing atoms of the source material to break off from the target in vapor form
and condense on all surfaces including the substrate. As for evaporation, the basic
principle of sputtering is the same for all sputtering technologies. The differences
typically relate to the manor in which the ion bombardment of the target is realized. A
schematic diagram of a typical 11' sputtering system is shown in the figure below.

mr-

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• .•
.- ••
I -
I
1
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Figure 6: Typical RE sputtering system.

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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
CASTING

In this process the material to be deposited is dissolved in liquid form in a

solvent. The material can be applied to the substrate by spraying or spinning. Once the
solvent is evaporated, a thin film of the material remains on the substrate. This is
particularly useful for polymer materials, which may be easily dissolved in organic
solvents, and it is the common method used to apply photoresist to substrates (in
photolithography). The thicknesses that can be cast on a substrate range all the way
from a single monolayer of molecules (adhesion promotion) to tens of micrometers_ In
recent years, the casting technology has also been applied to form films of glass
materials on substrates. The spin casting process is illustrated in the figure below. •

WHENDOWEWANTTOUSECASTING?

Casting is a simple technology which can be used for a variety of

materials (mostly polymers). The control on film thickness depends on exact
conditions, but can be sustained within +/-10°A) in a wide range. If you are planning to
use photolithography you will be using casting, which is an integral part of that
technology. There arc also other interesting materials such as polyirnide and spin-on
glass which can be applied by casting.

Uniform Layer of material

ci Material to lam clepos-i-tercli
-

after 1-1
Vauuurn

BEFORE SPINNING AFTER SPITNINENIG

Figu re 7: The spin casting process as used for photoresist in photolithography.

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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
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SECTiON 4.2 LITHOGRAPHY

SECTION 4.2.1 PATTERN TRANSFER

Lithography in the MEMS context is typically the transfer of a pattern to

a photosensitive material by selective exposure to a radiation source such as light. A
photosensitive material is a material that experiences a change in its physical properties
when exposed to a radiation source. if we selectively expose a photosensitive material
to radiation (e.g. by masking some of the radiation) the pattern of the radiation on the
material is transferred to the material exposed, as the properties of the exposed and
unexposed regions differs (as shown in figure 1).

Figure 1: Transfer of a pattern to a photosensitive material,

Top Iloir Cross Section

Pliotataitivemateriii
Sfitte

PhotNemitive pto es change

otiy Aim
witere eximed to

this discussion will focus on optical lithography, which is simply lithography using a
radiation source with wavelength(s) in the visible spectrum.

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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems I. Fri Kner M e r e - l e b r SrPla

In lithography for micromachining, the photosensitive material used is

typically a photoresist (also called resist, other photosensitive polymers are also used).
When resist is exposed to a radiation source of a specific a wavelength, the chemical
resistance of the resist to developer solution changes. If the resist is placed in a
developer solution after selective exposure to a light source, it will etch away cone of the
two regions (exposed or unexposed). If the exposed material is etched away by the
developer and the unexposed region is resilient, the material is considered to be a
positive resist (shown in figure 2a)_ If the exposed material is resilient to the developer
and the unexposed region is etched away, it is considered to be a negative resist (shown
in figure 2b).

Radiation
mash
Photosensitive material
Substrate

Photosensitive materials prop erLies change

only whEre exp aced to radiation

S pray sub strafe with

developer solution

a) Positive resist, b) Negati7e resift,

developer solution developer solution
removes exposed removes unE,:posed
material material

Figure 2: a) Pattern definition in positive resist, b Pattern definition in negative resist.

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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems • rns rm.-ma mei Mere-Al. rbm

Lithography is the principal mechanism for pattern definition in

mieromachining. Photosensitive compounds are primarily organic, and do not
encompass the spectrum of materials properties of interest to micro-machinists.
However, as the technique is capable of producing fine features in an economic fashion,
a photosensitive layer is often used as a temporary mask when etching an underlying
layer, so that the pattern may be transferred to the underlying layer (shown in figure
3a). Photoresist may also be used as a template for patterning material deposited after
lithography (shown in figure 3b). The resist is subsequently etched away, and the
material deposited on the resist is "lifted off'.

The deposition template (lift-off) approach for transferring a pattern from

resist to another layer is less common than using the resist pattern as an etch mask. The
reason for this is that resist is incompatible with most MEMS deposition processes,
u s u a l l y b e c a u s e i t c a n n o t w i t h s t a n d h i g h t o a n d ma y a c t a s a s o u r c e o f
contamination.

Subtractive Process Additive Process

Photolitliography

/
Pattern_ transfer Patten]. transfer
by etching by lift of

Figure 3: a) Pattern transfer, from patterned photoresist to underlying layer by etching,

b) Pattern transfer from patterned photoresist to overlying layer by 10--qff.

Etch Deposit

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Strip Resist .
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Seminar on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
Once the pattern has been transferred to another layer, the resist is usually
stripped. This is often necessary as the resist may be incompatible with further
mieromachining steps. it also makes the topography more dramatic, which may hamper
further lithography steps.

SECTION 4.2.2 ALIGNMENT

In order to make useful devices the patterns for different lithography steps
that belong to a single structure must be aligned to one another. The first pattern
transfelTed to a wafer usually includes a set of alignment marks, which are high
precision features that are used as the reference when positioning subsequent patterns,
to the first pattern (as shown in figure 4). Often alignment marks are included in other
patterns, as the original alignment marks may be obliterated as processing progresses. It
is important for each alignment mark on the wafer to be labeled so it may be identified,
and for each pattern to specify the alignment mark to which it should be aligned.

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Alignment

Features on mask

-
1 I -

Mask over wafer

Alignment ii
to register two

_1 I_ l a y e r s , w a f e r now rea.cly
to be exposed

I 1 -
-
Figure 4: Use of alignment
marks to register
subsequent layers

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