Rapid Prototyping and Development of Microfluidic and BioMEMS

Devices

J. Sasserath and D. Fries

Intelligent Micro Patterning System Solutions, LLC
St. Petersburg, Florida
(T) 727-522-0334
(F) 727-522-3896
www.intelligentmp.com

Introduction
In order to reduce the cost of manufacturing and provide the flexibility needed to
respond to cyclical economic conditions, outsourcing of manufacturing functions is
commonly used. This model has proven successful in many high technology industries.
For example, the rapid growth of the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing industry
has been based on this outsourcing model. Additionally, there are over fifty (50)
commercially available fabrication facilities for silicon-based MicroElectroMechanical
systems (MEMS) in the United States alone1.
A similar concept is presented for outsourcing the design, prototyping, and testing of
BioMEMS and microfluidic devices. Although conceptually similar to the silicon device
centers, many fundamental differences exist and will be discussed below. Additionally,
an overview of a BioMEMS/microfluidic device outsource fabrication facility will be
provided. Lastly, success stories using this model will be provided.

Key Factors that Drive the BioMEMS/Microfluidics Outsource Model

In order to respond to the needs of device designers in these areas, a number of
significant differences will exist between this outsource and traditional silicon
manufacturers. These are all a result of the differences in device needs, as well as the
economic considerations that are frequently present with these devices.
• Substrates: Whereas silicon fabs are set up to deal with standard, well defined
silicon wafers, the BioMEMS and microfluidic communities are often forced to
work with non-silicon materials. Considerations that drive these include the need
to work with large devices (which can often exceed a few square centimeters in
size), incompatibility of silicon with many fluids, and the need to start with low
cost materials. Examples of substrates often used in these applications include
glass slides, PMMA squares, PVDF & other polymeric materials, and rigid
plastics that have topography.
• Critical Features: While silicon processes often strive for higher device densities
and small, sub-micron geometries, BioMEMS/Microfluidics often require thicker
materials and larger features. The result is that many of the high priced pieces of
process equipment utilized in silicon fabs are not needed for
BioMEMS/Microfluidics fabrication. This expense elimination is critical for
many cost sensitive applications.

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• Rapid Prototyping: CMOS and other silicon based devices are often well
understood and accurate models exist for designers. These allow for rapid design
of new devices, while fabrication of new products may take up to a few weeks.
BioMEMS and microfluidics designers often do not have the wide range of
modeling, simulation and design tools available and, hence, rely on empirical
results to finalize device design and fabrication. Hence, multi-week fabrication
cycles are expected and could slow device development to unacceptable levels.
The result is that an outsource fabrication facility for these devices must
overcompensate and be able to rapidly prototype new designs in only a few days
to provide speedy time to market for new devices.
• Device Cost Sensitivity: BioMEMS and Microfluidics are often more cost
sensitive than silicon devices. This cost requirement must be achieved, even
though volumes are typically smaller than comparable silicon runs. Whereas
silicon device orders are often in lots of many thousand devices, BioMEMS and
microfluidic devices may only be ordered in lots of 50-100 pieces. This presents
a difficult economic challenge to fabricators who need to produce low cost
devices in small quantities.

The Solution-A Successful Fab Model

A solution to the cited problems is available. A commercial design and fabrication
facility has been developed that addresses the above issues. In addition to providing a
production outsource for new devices, the presented solution will allow companies to do
prototyping and test new ideas without the need to establish a new fabrication line. This
ultimately offers advantages to the new user such as reduced capital costs, faster time to
market, and allows the customer to focus on their core competencies.
In addition to providing specific solutions to the critical areas discussed earlier, the
outsource is set up to provide a single point where design, fabrication, and testing of new
devices can occur. This is needed to ensure complete communication during the device
development process so that all of the details needed to successfully prototype new
designs will not be lost. Additionally, even though users may choose to only use a
portion of these services, having a core group of individuals who are experienced in each
of these individual steps will further reduce the risk associated with new product design.

Maskless Photolithography Exceeds the User’s Needs

The key process for transferring images to an electronic or microfluidic device is
termed Photolithography. It is used in semiconductor and other device manufacturing
(e.g. Lab on a chip, microfluidic devices, optoelectronics). Standard photolithography
processes utilize photomasks (masks) as a critical part of the image transfer process. A
standard photolithography process involves four major steps which are described below:

Standard Photolithography Steps:

Step 1: Photoresist Coating – A substrate, an object onto which the image is
transferred or projected, is coated with photoresist, a liquid polymeric material.
The photoresist is the material that the image will be transferred to during the
photolithography process. The coating process is performed by spinning the
substrates at speeds between 1000 and 5000 rpm. Photoresist is deposited onto

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 the substrate surface during this dynamic movement to ensure even coating over
the entire substrate surface. Another alternative is to employ dry film photoresists
which can be laminated into place to create the photopatternable surface.

Step 2: Exposure – Once the substrate has been coated with photoresist, the
substrate is then exposed on an exposure tool. In standard processes, the system
shines light through a glass plate which is partially coated with chrome. This
plate, termed a photomask or mask, has the master image of the device on it. By
shining light through it and onto the substrate, individual areas of the photoresist
are selectively exposed to light. This exposure causes a chemical change in the
photoresist.

Step 3: Development – Once exposed, the substrate is then immersed in a

developer solution. Developer solutions are typically aqueous and will dissolve
away areas of the photoresist that were exposed to light. Therefore, after
successful development, the photoresist is patterned with the master image that
was provided by the photomask.

Step 4: Hardbake – After development, the substrate is baked in an oven or hot

plate at temperatures between 100-120oC. This is needed to drive off liquids that
may have been absorbed on the substrate and to crosslink the remaining
photoresist. Crosslinking the polymer increases mechanical and chemical
stability of the material, allowing it to be used in further substrate processing.

In the above standard process, the cost and time for device processing are heavily
influenced by the availability and cost of the photomask used to impart the pattern. An
ideal solution would be to employ a maskless technology that can yield a large number of
possible, arbitrary designs depending on the device. An ideal maskless exposure system,
Intelligent Micro Patterning’s SF-100, exceeds the requirements of BioMEMS and
microfluidic device fabricators. The SF-100 is a sophisticated photoimaging sytem
which takes any full scale image created on a Windows®-based computer, and reduces
that image down to a size as small as 5 microns, maintaining all relative proportions and
resolutions. The SF-100 is used in the exposure step of a typical photolithography
process. A standard Windows®-based personal computer is interfaced directly to the
system, providing system control and image storage for the exposure process. A
schematic of the system is shown in Figure 1 and a photo of the system is shown in
Figure 2.

The Maskless Processing Sequence

(1) Any Windows®-based software may be used to create the desired design.
This might be a design for a microchip, a MEMS device, a microfluidic
device, patterned surface chemistries, a circuit, etc.

(2) The computer generated image is electronically transferred to the patented

Smart Filter assembly.

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(3) Light is introduced into the system using a polychromatic white light source.

(4) A direct coupled optical delivery system ensures efficient transfer of this
energy to our patented Smart Filter sub-assembly. The Smart Filter
incorporates all of the optical and electronic components necessary to transfer
an image onto the substrate. Through shaping and optimization of the light
path, the projected image is free of distortion, and uniform throughout the
exposure area.

a. Light emanating from the Smart Filter is broadcast directly onto the
surface of the substrate.

b. Since the area of this image is typically only a few square centimeters, a
step and repeat motion may be used to expose the entire surface of the
substrate. To controllably move the substrate during these activities, a
highly accurate xyz stage is incorporated into the base unit.
Piezoelectronic motors provide a step increment of 0.25 micron, ensuring
accurate and reliable registration between levels.

c. Additionally, by using the high-resolution microscope above the substrate,

the user may control image to substrate alignment. This provides the
capability of fabricating multi-layer devices. Multiple layers are often
required for more complex devices, where many functions are integrated
together to provide greater device performance.

d. A removable UV filter is placed between the light source and substrate

during the alignment sequence so as to avoid substrate exposure during
image to substrate alignment. This filter is necessary in order to prevent
the photoresist from exposing while the substrate is being aligned to the
image. If the filter were not present, the photoresist would be exposed
during the alignment process, resulting in a thinned photoresist thickness.
This thinning would cause punch through and repeatability problems at
subsequant etch and deposition steps.

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Advantages of Maskless Photolithography Over Standard Techniques
Table 1 describes some of the advantages and disadvantages of maskless
photolithography based on smart filter technology when compared to other standard
photoresist exposure systems.

Other Process Technologies Provide Complete Device Fabrication Capabilities

With the photolithography capability defined, there are other processes which must be
made available to customers in order to be able to fabricate a completed device. A
number of these processes are described below. Note that in all cases, these processes
can be run on standard silicon wafers, as well as with many other non-standard substrates.
Sizes can range from pieces of wafers to large 300mm square wafers or linear tape
materials in roll to roll processes. Additionally, substrate materials can vary. A partial
list of acceptable materials includes glass, plastics, ceramics, metals, and many others.

Deposition of Metals: In order to make electrical contact within the device and to the
outside world or in creating electrodes for electronic detectors or making metal based
components, metal deposition capabilities are required. Although a number of
methods are commercially available for this, plating and electroless methods both
offer the cost advantages needed when working with BioMEMS and microfluidic
devices. Additionally, both thin and thick films can be deposited here, offering
significant process flexibility to the user. Metals that can be deposited using these
techniques include gold, nickel, platinum, paladium, and copper.

Silkscreen Making and Film Deposition: For devices that can be produced with less-
stringent imaging requirements, silk-screening is available. This process requires that
a silkscreen master image first be produced and then, using this master image, a
number of thick paste films can be deposited. Typical thicknesses for the deposited
films are 10-20 um and curing is often performed between 75-150C.

Wet Chemical Milling: Using wet chemical etching techniques, patterning of the
above films can be accomplished. Processes are available for a number of metals,
including aluminum, stainless steel, and copper. Processing temperatures vary
depending on the specific user requirements, but are generally less than 60C. These
processes are fully compatible with the photoresist imaging processes described
earlier.

Casting & Molding: Hard casts and molds can be fabricated using the photoresist
imaging techniques described above. If many low cost copies of this product need to
be manufactured or 3 dimensional copies of other hard objects need to be produced,
casting and molding techniques can be used with these masters.. In either case, copies
are made of plastics, such as PDMS (polydimethyl siloxiane), and the work is
performed between 25-100C. Features as small as 10 um and as large as 10 mm have
been successfully reproduced using casting and molding processes. For a large
number of devices, micromolding combined with injection molding techniques may
be used to produce testing and diagnostic components

Other Photoimageable Materials: Using dry film diazo-photoresist systems, laminate
films between 15-150 um thick can be successfully produced. These are produced
using standard photresist imaging techniques. Additionally, ceramics can also be
directly patterned. This clearly eliminates the damage, poor selectivity and material

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 redeposition issues associated with etching ceramic films. Single layers are deposited
in 10 um intervals and, through the use of multiple coats, can be deposited to much
higher thicknesses. Once patterned, the ceramic material is cured at 850C. Ceramic
materials are excellent insulators and packages for applications that are used at either
high temperature or in harsh environments, such as implantables in the body. Finally,
polyimide materials can be patterned, which can be used as interlevel dielectric,
passivation top coat layers, or as polymeric diagnostic components and implantable
devices.

Results Prove Concept:

Using the above model, a number of advanced devices have been designed, fabricated
and tested. A partial listing of these is given below.
A thin film glucose monitor is a good example of how the aforementioned technology
can be applied. This sensor is shown in Figure 3.
Although this is not a complete device, the ability to process plastic materials is
critical for many BioMEMS and microfluidic devices. The lithography process described
earlier has been used in many such applications. Figure 4 shows an example of a 50 mm
x 50 mm square that was patterned with standard g-line (426nm) photoresist materials. If
further processing was required, other steps, such as plating or etching could be
performed to fabricate a more complicated structure. This device has the desired
materials sought in a disposable diagnostic device. The substrate is made of
polycarbonate which can be injection molded to high tolerance and the patterned layer
can be laminate coated followed by photo patterning to create the analytical sequences.
The polymeric matrix in Figure 5 is actually a 3 dimensional lattice that was
produced by exposing multiple layers of photosensitive materials sequentially. Through
the repeated exposure of individual layers, a structure with significant height was
produced. This structure has utility as a cell capturing matrix or as a scaffolding structure
for biomaterials. Using this technique, combined with the inherent flexibility of the
maskless photolithography process, biomaterials can be grown in specific shapes and
sizes, which maybe useful in future tissue transplant or regeneration procedures.
Finally, Figure 6 shows advanced capabilities that are available using Smart Filter
technology. This figure shows highly curved surfaces that have been patterned with
photoresist materials. Figure 8 clearly demonstrates a 750um diameter cylinder that has
photoresist patterns around its entire circumference. This material is important since they
provide for more applications that can take advantage of thin film processing techniques
available in the fab. The ability to fabricate highly precise mechanical devices and
integrate electronic components onto mechanical devices offers the medical diagnostic
device designer significant flexibility and capabilities that are not available with standard
silicon processes.

Summary
An external BioMEMS and microfluidic fabrication capability has been discussed.
Although similar in principle to silicon-based commercial fabrication facilities, a number
of critical changes have been implemented to ensure success. These include:

The ability to handle non-standard, non-silicon substrates,

Large critical feature sizes,

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Rapid prototyping capabilities, and

Low cost operation.
The key to success for this commercial fabrication capability is the ability to do
maskless photolithography. Combining the flexibility of this process with other standard
thin film processing techniques, many varied devices have been successfully fabricated.
These include microfluidic and BioMEMS devices made from thin films, plastics,
glasses, and other curved substrates. This novel microfabrication technology permits
new designs and new devices and will ensure that customer’s next generation devices can
be developed quickly and at low cost.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Addys Gonzalez Sasserath for her contributions in
providing simple, easy to read descriptions of the maskless photolithography process, the
SF-100 maskless exposure system operation, and the comparison table of the different
photolithographic processes.

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Figure 1 - Schematic of the SF-100 Maskless Exposure System

Figure 2 - Photo of the SF-100 Maskless Exposure System

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Figure 3 – Thin Film Glucose Monitor

Figure 4 – Photoresist Patterned Polycarbonate Plastic Material

Figure 5 – Polymer Lattice Used for Biomaterials Growth

Figure 6 – 750 um Diameter Stainless Steel Rod Patterned Around Circumference

with Photoresist

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Table 1:Comparison of Smart Filter Technology to Optical Exposure Technologies
Requiring Photomasks
Mono-
Exposure
Smart Filter Contact Proximity Chromatic
Technology
Technology Printing Printing Stepper
Require
Photomasks to No Yes Yes Yes
Generate
Pattern?
Accommodates System set for System set for System set for
substrates of single substrate single substrate single substrate
various shapes, size. Most size. Most size. Most
materials, and applications applications applications
sizes. Silicon support only support only support only
wafers and standard silicon standard silicon standard silicon
Substrate Size
other substrates wafer sizes, wafer sizes, wafer sizes,
Requirements
ranging from 75mm, 100mm, 75mm, 100mm, 75mm, 100mm,
15mm to over 125mm, 125mm,150mm 125mm,150mm
300mm long or150mm or 200mm or 200mm.
have been 300mm wafer
processed. processing
possible.
Low, since High, since Low, since Very Low
substrates are wafers come in wafers are only
only handled by contact with handled by
backside and photomasks backside and
Defect Levels
have no during have no
mechanical exposure. mechanical
contact during contact during
process. process.
Wafer Manual Cassette to Cassette to Cassette to
Handling Cassette Cassette Cassette
System Size Small Medium Medium Large
Minimum 5 um <1.0 um <1.0 um <0.5 um
Feature Size
Time from <10 minutes is 24 hours or 24 hours or 24 hours or
completion of needed per more per more per more per
device design revision to revision are revision are revision are
to start of first
transfer design needed for needed for needed for
exposure file to SF-100 fabrication and fabrication and fabrication and
system inspection of inspection of inspection of
computer for each each each
exposure photomask. photomask. photomask.
Exposure Field .63 cm x .63 cm Entire Wafer Entire Wafer 2.0 cm x 1.0 cm
Surface Surface

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1
R. Grace, “Overview of the MEMS Industry”, Presented at Tampa Bay and MEMS Conference,
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, February 28, 2002.

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