Outline

Pattern transfer Method

- Lithography

Subtractive Method

}
- Wet and Dry Etching
Basic Fabrication
Additive Method Techniques
- Thin Film Deposition

Example (Cantilever Beam)

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 MEMS Fabrication Techniques

Pattern Transfer Method :

Photo Lithography
E-beam Lithography
Nano-imprinting Lithography

Subtractive Method :
Wet Etching
Dry Etching

Additive Method :
Thin Film Deposition

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 Photolithography

Energy
Change cross linking of polymer chains of a photo-sensitive polymer
called photoresist, and modify its dissociation rate in a developer similar
to that for developing photos
Mask
Absorber (Dark Area) & window (Open area)
Resist
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Transfer image from mask to wafer
Photolithography
Positive Photoresist
- the polymer is weakened
and more soluble in
the developer

Negative Photoresist
- the polymer is hardened
and less soluble

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 Exposure Systems
Photolithography

Z
2bmin 3 g
2 2bmin
2 NA

Contact not limited by diffraction

Proximity 2 ~ 20 m gap, limited by diffraction
Projection limited by diffraction 5
 Electron Beam Lithography

Minimum beam size (5nm)

for optical & X-ray masks, and nano-devices

Direct writing on resist-coated substrate

No Mask
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 Energy Sources
Energy Sources

Energy

hc
E h

Minimum Line Width

f
R 1.22
d

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 Comparison
Comparison

Optical Electron Beam

No diffraction
Low ~High precision
Easy to control
Advantage Fast exposure speed
Available for small
Relatively low cost
features

Light diffraction Needs vacuum

Alignment problem High system cost
Disadvantage Debris between mask Slow
and wafer

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 Nano-imprinting Lithography:
Fused Silica Template
1. Orient substrate and Release Layer
treated template Planarization Layer
Substrate

2. Dispense drops of low

viscosity UV curable low
Low Viscosity Monomer
viscosity organosilicon
monomer

UV blanket expose
3. Close gap and illuminate
with UV (Room
Temperature, Low
Pressure)

HIGH resolution, LOW

aspect-ratio relief
4. Separate the template
from the substrate Residual Layer

HIGH resolution, HIGH

5. Halogen break-thru etch aspect-ratio feature
followed by oxygen etch

Step and Flash Imprinting Lithography (S-FILTM) 9

 S-FIL Patterned Nanowires

Sub-40 nm contacts
30 nm dense lines
20 nm isolated lines

Courtesy: Profs. C. G. Willson and S.V. Sreenivasan

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 Subtractive Method
Wet and Dry Etching
Wet Etching Dry Etching
- Chemical Reaction - Chemical + Physical Reaction
- Liquid source - Gas or Vapor phase source

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Etching Mechanism

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 Dry Etching
Ion Energy
Physical Etching (Sputtering)
Momentum transfer
bond breakage
Particle Collisions
Aniosotropic
Physical- chemical Etching
Ion bombardment to make
the surface more reactive
Anisotropic
Chemical Etching
Reactive etchant species
Isotropic
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Pressure
Silicon Crystal Structure

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Isotropic and Anisotropic in
Wet and Dry Etching
Isotropic Anisotropic

Wet

For Silicon

- HNA (HF, HNO3, CH3COOH)

Dry

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 Comparison
Parameter Wet Etching Dry Etching
Directionality Only with single With most
crystal materials materials
Cost Low High

Selectivity Can be very good Poor

Typical Etch Fast (1um/min) Slow (0.1 um/min)

Rate
Control Difficult Good

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Etching Process

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 Additive Method
Thin Film Deposition

Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)

Thermal Evaporation
Sputtering

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)

PECVD (Plasma Enhanced)
LPCVD (Low Pressure)

Electroplating

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 PVD: Thermal Evaporation
Thermal Evaporation
Low working pressure
Based on the to increase mean free path
sublimation Low surface damage
Fast Faster than sputtering
Low surface damage Limited material
Difficult to control
Limited materials (metal)

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 PVD: Sputtering

Sputtering
Based on Ion bombardment
Unlimited material
Possible surface damage
Excellent adhesion
Expensive

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 CVD: Plasma Enhanced
PECVD

Plasma helps reaction

Low substrate temperature
Good step coverage
Chemical contamination

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 CVD: Low Pressure

LPCVD

< 10 Pa
Excellent purity
Low stress
High temperature
Low deposition rate

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Electroplating

Various metal (Au, Ni, etc)

Fast
> 10 m
Hydrogen bubble generation
Difficult for sub-m features
Needs seed layer

J.W. Judy, "Magnetic microactuators with polysilicon

flexures," Masters Report, Department of EECS,
University of California, Berkeley, August 29, 1994 23
Making a Cantilever Beam
(Surface Micromachining)

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Sensitivity Enhancement of a Lorentz Force
MEMS
Magnetometer With Frequency Modulated
Output
Varun Kumar, Saeed Mazrouei Sebdani, and Siavash
Pourkamali
Electrical Engineering Department, University of Texas at
Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080 USA
Accepted: April 9, 2017

JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS

IF: 1.939

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Applications

Industrial

Biomedical

consumer applications such as magnetoencephalography

(detecting magnetic fields of the human brain) [1],

mineral prospecting [2],

magnetic compass [3],

automotive sensors

respiratory measurements [4],

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space research
 Hall sensors (nT-T),
Giant magnetoresistive sensors (sub T)
Fluxgate sensors (nT-mT)
SQUID
Scalar Atomic Magnetometry

One of the main challenges for such sensors is the

relatively small amplitude of the Lorentz force

The vibration amplitude of a resonator at its

resonance frequency is Q times large than its
displacement amplitude resulting from the same
actuation force
applied as a static force.

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 Thermal actuators have great properties such as large
actuation force, low operating voltage, and simplicity of
design and integration. On the downside, their power
consumption and high body temperature limit their
application in some cases.
Lorentz force can be used to modulate the
resonant frequency of a MEMS resonator
fulcrum-lever based microleverage mechanism
which increased the sensitivity of the
sensor by 42X
In this paper, a new design for frequency modulated
MEMS magnetometers is presented that utilizes a
leverage mechanism to amplify the Lorentz force

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60m long, 2 m wide beam in the middle of the resonator
connecting the 300 m 300 m

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Bulk micromachining technologies

Wet bulk micromachining (WBM)

gives nice feature resolution and vertical sidewalls for
deep trenches in the substrate but have numerous
disadvantages such as incompatibility with
microelectronic circuits and higher cost due to
mask requirement.

Dry bulk micromachining (DBM)

Wet bulk micromachining
Dry bulk micromachining

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CMOS compatible micromachining

During post processing in CMOS MEMS technology,

the top metal layer acts as mask to define
MEMS structures. For the front side processing of the
die no photolithographic steps are
required. CMOS MEMS technology facilitates the
wiring of MEMS structures to integrated
circuits due to many metal layers.

Dry post CMOS MEMS technologies

Thin-film Post-CMOS MEMS Technology

DRIE Post-CMOS MEMS Technology
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DRIE post-CMOS MEMS technology

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Process flow

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 LIGA Process
An important technology of MST
Developed in Germany in the early 1980s
LIGA stands for the German words
LIthographie (in particular X-ray lithography)
Galvanoformung (translated electrodeposition or
electroforming)
Abformtechnik (plastic molding)
The letters also indicate the LIGA process
sequence
 Processing Steps in LIGA
(1) Apply resist, X-ray exposure through mask, (2) remove exposed
portions of resist, (3) electrodeposition to fill openings in resist, (4)
strip resist for (a) mold or (b) metal part
 Advantages of LIGA
LIGA is a versatile process it can produce
parts by several different methods
High aspect ratios are possible (large
height-to-width ratios in the fabricated part)
Wide range of part sizes is feasible - heights
ranging from micrometers to centimeters
Close tolerances are possible
 Disadvantages of LIGA
LIGA is a very expensive process
Large quantities of parts are usually required to
justify its application
LIGA uses X-ray exposure
Human health hazard
Other Microfabrication Processes
Soft lithography
Nontraditional and traditional processes and
rapid prototyping adapted for
microfabrication
Photochemical machining
Electroplating, electroforming, electroless
plating
Electric discharge machining
Electron beam machining
Ultrasonic machining
Microstereolithography
 Soft Lithography
Term for processes that use an elastomeric flat
mold to create a pattern on a substrate
surface
A master pattern is fabricated on a silicon
surface using lithography
This pattern is then used to produce a flat
mold of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)
Two processes:
Micro-imprint lithography
Micro-contact printing
 Soft Lithography
Fabricating the elastomeric mold (like a
rubber stamp): (1) master pattern is made by
traditional lithography, (2) PDMS mold is
cast from pattern, (3) cured flat mold is
peeled off pattern for use
 Micro-Imprint Lithography
(1) Mold is positioned above and (2)
pressed into resist, (3) mold is lifted, and (4)
remaining resist is removed from substrate
surface in defined regions
Microstereolithography (MSTL)
MSTL layer thickness t = 10 to 20 m
typically
In conventional STL, t = 75 m to 500 m
MSTL spot size is as small as 1 or 2 m
Laser spot size diameter in STL ~ 250 m
MSTL materials not limited to
photosensitive polymer
Researchers report fabricating 3-D ceramic and
metallic microstructures
Starting material is a powder rather than a
liquid
 Ultra-High Precision Machining
Trends in conventional machining include
taking smaller and smaller cut sizes
Enabling technologies include:
Single-crystal diamond cutting tools
Position control with resolutions ~ 0.01 m
Applications: computer hard discs,
photocopier drums, mold inserts for
compact disk reader heads, high-definition
TV projection lenses
 Ultra-High Precision Machining
One reported application: milling of
grooves in aluminum foil using a single-
point diamond fly-cutter
The aluminum foil is 100 m thick
The grooves are 85 m wide and 70 m deep
 Ultra-High Precision Machining

Ultra-high precision milling of grooves in

aluminum foil
Bio-MEMS