UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

EECE 5141/6041: Microfabrication Lab for Semiconductor Devices and MEMS

Lab P02: Photolithography of anisotropic etching mask for Si membrane

Procedures
1. Measure the grown oxide thickness using Digital reader (Nanometrics equipment).
Alternatively, we can also use Ellipsometer to measure the oxide thickness (Thickness (Å) =
TL + n * ORD) by calculating the theoretical thickness for “n”.

2. Solvent cleaning (organic removal)

(a) Acetone (b) Propanol-2 (c) DI water [2 min rinse] (d) N2 dry

3. HMDS coat (adhesion promoter between silicon wafer and PR)

(a) Apply HMDS on the wafer by using pipettes.
(b) Set up the speed of spin-coater [Recipe 27].
• 500 rpm 10 sec for spreading
• Then 4,000 rpm 30 sec for spinning

4. PR coating and soft bake

(a) Use Recipe 27 again on the spin-coater to coat a layer of 1.8 μm thick AZ 1518 (Positive PR).
(b) Put the wafer covered with PR on hot plate for soft bake at 110ºC for 5 min.

5. Alignment and exposure

(a) Load the wafer on the aligner.
(b) Align flat between the mask and wafer.
(c) Set up the exposure timer to get 100 mJ (Joul = Watt × sec). i.e. set 15 sec when the exposure
intensity is around 5.9 mW (This will be changed depending on the aligner used).
Safety Note: Do not look at the Aligner during the exposure. UV light can damage your eyes.

6. Development (right after exposure)

(a) Mix 70 ml AZ 400K with 210 ml DI water as developer (1:3 mixing ratio).
(b) Dip wafer into developer for 55 sec, agitate the wafer during developing.
(c) Rinse 2 minutes under running DI water to remove residue of developed PR and developer
solution.

7. Dry with N2 and inspect with microscope

8. Hard bake
Put the wafer on hot plate at 140°C for 10 min.
9. Backside protection for single side oxide etching
(a) Use spin-coating to make a thick layer of PR AZ1518 on a 3” dummy wafer [Recipe 28].
• 500 rpm 10 sec for spreading
• 2,000 rpm 30 sec for spinning (2.5 μm)
(b) Place the PR-coated 2” wafer on top of the 3” dummy wafer coated with PR
(c) Use a cotton swab to paint the edge of the 2” wafer to prevent possible etching on the edge.
Also, cover the mark on the PR created by the tweezer.
(d) Wait at the room temperature for overnight.