Biomicroelectromechanical systems Lecture 7 and 8

Shantanu Bhattacharya

Review of previous lecture

Photolithography Plasma definitions. Types of plasma systems.

Magnetically enhanced plasma

Another type of plasma is enhanced magnetically. The plasma used in our case the ICP or inductively coupled plasma is also enhanced magnetically. A stream of gas in led into the plasma chamber.

Ref :Boumans, P.W.J.M., Inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, Interscience publication, New York

Magnetically enhanced plasma

e+ A Tesla coil placed on the top of the chamber is activated to cause an electrical discharge. This discharge causes some gas atoms to dissociate and come to excited states and also generate ions and electrons. Inlet gas

Outlet gas

Ref :Boumans, P.W.J.M., Inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, Interscience publication, New York

Magnetically enhanced plasma

e+

Outlet gas
R= m v qB

m= Particle mass
v= Particle velocity q= particle charge

B= magnetic field

Inlet gas

Ref :Boumans, P.W.J.M., Inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, Interscience publication, New York

Magnetically enhanced plasma

e+

Outlet gas
R= m v qB

m= Particle mass
v= Particle velocity q= particle charge

B= magnetic field

Inlet gas

The inner and outer gas Trion Inductively coupled plasma system streams mix inside the chamber
ICP Matching Network Process Gas Inlet Chuck ICP Coil View Port Window Chamber Block Vacuum Port Helium Coolant Inlet RIE Matching Network

Inner Gas
Outer Gas

The figure on the left shows a schematic of the gas piping that leads the process gases into the chamber. Two streams of gases are injected. One is the inner stream that is the main process gas. The secondary stream shot at an angle is mainly used to produce turbulence in the plasma chamber as the molecules in the secondary stream have higher velocities and are directed an an angle.The plasma is produced in the same way as mentioned in the previous slides. The addition in this case is the application of an RF 1. Ref: Service and warranty manual ,Trion Bias which drives the plasma to the substrate.
Technologies

MEMS materials
Silicon and microelectronic materials Glass, Quartz Polymers Poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) Teflon, etc. Biological Entities Cells, Proteins, DNA Frontier of BioMEMS !

Some Fabrication Methods for soft materials

Soft Lithography Replication and molding Micro-contact printing Micro-molding in capillaries Micro-transfer molding Solvent assisted micro-molding Dip Pen Lithography Compression Molding Hot Embossing Injection Molding Inkjet Printing

Evan et. al., 2007, NC state at Chapel Hill

Replication and Molding

Micro contact printing

Ink the PDMS structure with molecules (alkylthiols, proteins, DNA, etc.) Transfer the layer through physical contact in a gold layer (optimize time) Inking is performed via covalent binding on substrate Can be performed on flat surface or curved surface

Capillary moulding (Used for micropatterning)

SU8- Thick ve resist
UV exposure Thermosetting resin paste

SU8- Thick ve resist

Coating the paste

Master Mold

SU8- Thick ve resist PDMS soft mold release

Capillary infiltration

Ribs for PDP (release the mold)

Create a master and replicate a polymer layer to create capillaries. Spin coat the resin to be patterned Contact the polymer replica for the resin to go in the capillary. Usually have a thermosetting component and so the replica can be released to obtain the ribs.

Dip Pen Lithography

AFM Tip used to write molecules Being commercialized by Nanoink, Inc. SAMs, DNA, Proteins, etc. Serial (need array of cantilevers for parallel writing) Continuous source of molecules microfluidics .

Compression Molding
Cavity Hopper Barrel
Clamping unit Hydraulic screw drive and gearing

Heater bands

Screw

Features down to 0.1um deep and 0.6um wide (for CD-R)

Take a patterned hard substrate that can withstand heat and pressure without much deformation. Press this over a spun on thermoplastic polymer layer, heat the ensemble and release it.

Nano imprint lithography

Imprint mold with 10nm diameter pillars

10nm diameter holes imprinted in PMMA

10nm diameter metal dots

Nano-scale extension of hot embossing Need a nano-scale master mold Added to ITRS Roadmap

Plasma assisted etching

Etching is an act of engraving by means of which, an agent eats away lines or surfaces left unprotected in different substrate.

The extent of undercut is given as etch anisotropy (A).

Rl A 1 Photoresist Rv

Where, Rl= Lateral etch, Rv= Vertical etch

If A=1, lateral etch is zero, Etch is perfectly anisotropic

If A<1, lateral etch exists

Different plasma etching regimes High-pressure plasma etching Reactive ion etching

Ion Milling

103

101 Pressure (torr)

10-1
1.

10-3

10-5

Ref: Morgan, R.A., Plasma Etching in semiconductor fabrication, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1985.

Steps for Plasma etching

e+ *

e+ *
+ Cation Electron

+
High energy species

e- *
+

e*

1. Ref: Boley Forrest I., Plasmas laboratory and cosmic, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Priceton, New Jersey.

Steps for Plasma etching

e+ *

e+ *
+

e- *
+

e*

1. Ref: Boley Forrest I., Plasmas laboratory and cosmic, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Priceton, New Jersey.

Steps for Plasma etching

e+ *

e+ *
+

e- *
+

e* *

1. Ref: Boley Forrest I., Plasmas laboratory and cosmic, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Priceton, New Jersey.

Steps for Plasma etching

e+ *

e+ *
+

e- *
+

e*

Chemical reaction

1. Ref: Campbell, Stephen A., Science of microelectronic fabrication, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996

Steps for Plasma etching

e+ *

e+ *
+ Reaction products

e- *
+

e* *

Outlet
1. Ref: Campbell, Stephen A., Science of microelectronic fabrication, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996

Results: Fabrication Methodology Developed

Ref:Surface wettability studies in PDMS and glass and its correlation with bond strength, S. Bhattacharya, A. Datta, J.Berg and S. Gangopadhyay, JMEMS, Vol. 14, No.3, pp.590-597
CH3
UV

CH2 OOH

-CH O
2

Untreated PDMS
109o

Si
CH3

O
O2 OH

Si
CH3

Si
CH3

+ OH

Change of PDMS surface on exposure to Oxygen Plasma

Si
CH3

Hydrophilic groups

Treated PDMS

20o

Bond Strength Measurement

Schematic of blister Plan view Steel tube (23 gauge) Epoxy Blister Size 3mm

Testing of bond strength using compressed air

PEEK1 tubing

Elevation PDMS-PDMS blister after testing

1

Glass-PDMS blister after testing Poly Eukaryotic Ether Ketone

Effect on PDMS surface of Plasma exposure

Surface transformations on exposure to Oxygen plasma

CH3
UV

CH2 OOH

-CH O
2

Scheme1
.

Si
CH3

O
O2 OH

Si
CH3

Si
CH3

+ OH

Si
CH3
CH3
UV

Si
CH3 O2

O
O2 OOH

Scheme2

Si .
CH3

O
.

CH3

O
.

-OH

Si
CH3

O
O

Si
CH3

Si
CH3

Si
CH3

Si
CH3

1. Ref: Hillborg H., Gedde U.W., IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation, Vol. 6 No. 5, October 1999.

Surface cracking and oozing out of Oligomeric chains

Thin Silica Layer

Short chain oligomers coming up from the bulk PDMS

Cracks on the Silica Layer

PDMS Bulk

Uncracked protective silica layer

Cracked due to harsher treatments

1. Ref: Plasma treatment of Poly (dimethyl) silaxane, Owen M.J., Smith P.J., Journal of adhesion science and technology, Vol.8, No. 10, pp. 1063-1075, 1994

Differences between various etch regimes

S.N. 1

High Pressure Etching Mean free path of the species is much less than chamber size

Ion Milling Mean free path is comparable to chamber size because of low pressures

Reactive Ion Etching Moderate mean free path of the species.

The plasma is used to start and stop chemical reactions

Ion impact energy is low . The plasma is homogeneous and isotropic

The plasma is used to Processing is abrade the substrate primarily chemical by sputtering out transformation of the material surface
Ion impact energy is high It has a high directionality. Moderate impact energy The degree of anisotropy is higher

1. Ref: Spitzer Lyman, Jr., Physics of fully ionized gases, Interscience Publishers, New York, 1962