Lithographic Processes

The process of lithographically fabricating microcomponents is analogous to printing a

photograph in a darkroom. In phorography, an energy sensitive material (photo emulsion) is
placed as a thin coating on a piece of photographic paper. A negative is used to selectively
transmit or block energy (light) passing from a source to the emulsion. The light causes a
chemical change in the emulsion which changes its properties in certain developers. The exposed
picture undergoes chemical processing and the emulsion is then fixed to stabilize it against
further exposure by ambient light.
The process of lithography is also used to fabricate a variety of microcomponents and systems
such as electronics, air bag accelerometers, inertial guidance sensors, and pressure and flow
sensors, for example. The process is very much like that described above, but has been specially
tailored to the particular application. There are two basic types of lithography used to make
microsctructures. They are optical and x-ray lithography. Microlithography has generally used
terms which show the analogy with photography.
Photoresist the energy sensitive material into which the pattern of the
microstructures is transferred (similar to photograpic emulsion)
Substrate
the structural carrier for the photoresist, often times silicon but
is application dependent (similar to photographic paper)
Mask
the portion of the mask which is transparent to the exposing
Substrate
energy and which carries the energy absorber (like cellulose
film/clear portion of photographic negative)
Mask
the mask material which is patterned to selectively block energy
Absorber
from reaching the photoresist (dark portion of photographic
negative)
Collimated the energy source used to transfer the mask pattern into the
Source
photoresist by way of parallel energy rays (like the condenser
and light in a photographic enlarger)
Developer the chemical used to dissolve the photoresist which has either
been exposed to the energy or has been blocked from being
exposed to the energy (like the many types of photographic
developers)
Photoresist the nature of the specific photoresist used such that it becomes
Tone
soluble or insoluble in certain developers upon exposure. A
resist that can be developed away upon exposure is termed a
"positive resist" and one that becomes insoluble (cures) upon
exposure and remains is a "negative resist." Negative resists are
similar to photocuring resins.

Optical Lithography
The name optical lithography comes from the early application where the exposing energy was
visible light. While those wavelengths can still be used, the push to reduce the size of feature
sizes has lead to the use of shorter wavelengths to increase resolution. Ultraviolet (UV) and deep
ultraviolet (DUV) sources are now used. Such sources include excimer lasers which operate at
wavelengths of 248 nm, 193 nm, and less. Visible wavelengths end in the red at about 400 nm.
At these shorter wavelengths, particularly 193 nm, optical materials and even air absorb the
energy very well and there are still many problems to be overcome when using this wavelength.
The process steps described below are superficial and require advanced levels of technology to
be fully effective. There are many references available which more completely describe each
process step.
The first step in optical lithography is to create a mask. The mask substrate is commonly
borosilicate glass or more recently fused-silica because of its lower thermal expansion coefficient
and higher transmission at lower wavelengths. The next step is to apply a resist coating to the
mask substrate. This is done using a spinner which spins the mask substrate as a small amount on
liquid resist is applied at the center. This results in a uniform coating of the liquid resist on the
substrate. To mechanically "fix" the resist, it undergoes a prescribed baking operation.
The next step is to pattern the resist with a pattern generator. In photography, the negative is
patterned by the scene being photographed. In lithography, the pattern is made by moving a
small spot of light over the resist to "write" the desired pattern. The source for traditional optical
lithography is a mercury arc lamp which has an output with spectral energy peaks at particular
wavelengths. The resist is commonly tailored to be most sensitive at one or more of these
wavelengths. For DUV mask patterning, lasers are used. The mask resist may also be patterned
by electron beam lithography which can shape the beam to be square or rectangular. The much
shorter wavelength of the electrons is one reason for increased resolution using e-beam
lithography. After patterning, the mask is developed and a metal coating (commonly chromium)
is applied. The chromium fills the voids in the developed resist, as well as on top of the
undeveloped resist. The resist is then stripped away leaving a pattern of chromium on the mask
substrate. Prior to use, the mask must be inspected, measured, and if necessary repaired.

A similar process is performed on the substrate and resist to be patterned for the final
structures. For microelectronics, the substrate is silicon or gallium-arsenide. For
silicon-based MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), the substrate is also silicon.
The mask is then used analagous to a photographic negative and the mask pattern is
transferred into the resist carried on the substrate. Normally, the mask is held in very
close proximity to the substrate and resist in what is termed proximity or shadow
printing.
The resolution of the transferred pattern is governed by the diffraction equations for the incident
light.

After exposure, the substrate resist is developed similar to the mask resist leaving openings in the
resist. This allows access to the substrate for further etching, deposition, or doping. The number
of possible subsequent processes is large and will not be repeated here. They are widely available
in the open literature, handbooks, and textbooks.

X-ray Lithography
X-ray lithography
uses collimated x-rays as the exposing energy. Being much shorter in
wavelength than light, even DUV light, x-rays provide increased lateral resolution. For
micromanufacturing though, it is the penetrating power of the x-rays deep into the photoresist
that is used. This allows microstructures with great height to be fabricated, relative to optical
lithography. It should be noted that the terms "great height" and "high aspect ratio" are often used
without specific numbers being applied. As technology progresses, the absolute numbers
associated with these terms change. For example, optical lithography has been used to create
structures as high as 1 millimeter in newer negative photoresists. One millimeter was generally
regarded as a height only attainable with x-ray lithography.
Because x-rays interact with matter differently than optical wavelengths, the lithography process
uses different materials. The typical x-ray absorber is gold, but most materials with a high atomic
number will have a high x-ray coefficient. This is dependent on the wavelength of the x-rays
however. The mask substrate is normally a low atomic number material such as diamond,

beryllium, or polyimide, or a thin membrane of a higher atomic number material such as silicon
or silicon carbide. The substrate is, again, any structural material which fits the particular
application and the photoresist of choice is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
Depending on the thickness of the exposure desired, the PMMA is either spun on as a single
layer, as multiple layers, or adhered as a pre-cast commercial sheet. The sheet is commonly
adhered to the substrate by the liquid monomer, MMA. The thickness of the mask absorber
depends on the energy of the x-rays used to make the exposure. For x-rays with an energy in the
range of 5 keV (corresponding to an exposure depth into PMMA of several hundred
micrometers) from a "ring" (synchrotron) operating at a critical energy of 0.8 - 1.0 GeV, the gold
mask absorber must be approximately 5 to 10 micrometers thick to provide good contrast. As the
x-ray energy increases, to 35 keV for example (corresponding to an exposure depth into PMMA
of several millimeters, or more) from a ring operating at 7 GeV, the gold absorber must as thick
as 50 micrometers to provide good contrast between the absorbed and transmitted energy. Again,
there are many references available on aspects of this process.
X-ray lithography is expensive to perform because of the expense of operating a synchrotron.
Depending on what is considered, the cost can run hundreds of dollars per hour just to recover
the actual operating expenses without considering the initial investment of tens-of-millions of
dollars. Therefore, the LIGA process was developed several decades ago to reduce the
dependency on fabrication with a synchrotron.
The LIGA acronym is German and stands for in English Lithography-ElectroformingReplication. In the LIGA process, x-ray lithography is used to create a mold in the PMMA resist.
The resist is placed on a thin metallic plating base which has been deposited on the structural
substrate. The PMMA resist is exposed down to the plating base and, when developed, reveals
the plating base. The plating base is used as the cathode in an electroplating process to fabricate a
metallic microstructure within the mold.
Electroforming is the same as electroplating except the intent is different. Electroplating is
generally regarded as a process to protect a surface from corrosion, such as chromium plating, or
to provide a decorative surface, as in gold plating. Electroforming implies that the plating is used
to create an actual metal component.
After electroforming, the metallic negative of the PMMA mold is used as a mold insert for
subsequent injection molding or hot embossing. These processes create duplicates of the PMMA
mold made previously at the synchrotron. This helps reduce the cost of mass produced
microsystems. Examples of micocomponents and microsystems fabricated by x-ray lithography
are attached.