Vacuum 67 (2002) 605609

VLSI spin-offs and technological innovation

T.J. Tate*
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Exhibition Road,
London SW7 2BT, UK
Abstract
Innovation often emerges from spin-offs and imitation. Semiconductor processing, as typied by Very Large Scale
Integration, is a very mature, high-technology industry, capable of producing components with sub-micron features and
extremely closely monitored and controlled chemical compositions. There are many spin-off technologies, some of
which have already been adopted in the coatings and metals industries. One of the objects of a conference is to open
new dialogues for invention, and this paper looks at examples drawn mainly from experience in the MEMS group at
Imperial college, which are indicative of a cross-disciplinary approach leading to successful innovation. r2002 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Innovation; Technology transfer; Semiconductor processing; Spin-offs; Quadrupole mass spectrometry; SolGel; MEMS;
Microbial control
1. Technology transfer by comparison
Scientic and technological innovation, and the
invention of new processes and methods, occurs as
the result of hard work: some events may be due to
serendipity [1], but this cannot be predicted, and
innovation is frequently stimulated by comparison
[2] with parallel or similar technologies. Such
comparisons may be best made by workers
familiar with the relevant elds, but since the
comparisons may not be obvious [3], bibliogra-
phical search tools have been developed [4],
designed to highlight non-explicit links and con-
nections. In this paper, we look at transfers
between semiconductor processing and other
disciplines, in an attempt to stimulate new
transfers of techniques and ideas, leading to
innovations, and the processes of the future.
2. Spin-off technology
The large degree of overlap between semicon-
ductor processing and surface engineering may be
seen in the topics discussed at conferences, for
example, the second Asian European International
Conference on Plasma Surface Engineering
AEPSE99 [5], included development and appli-
cations of surface coatings and modication
technologies by plasma, ion beam, PVD, PECVD
technologies, and concluded that these technolo-
gies have become highly essential steps in the
advanced industries such as microelectronic, at
panel displays, telecommunications, optics, ma-
chinery, automobile, and aerospace industry, etc.
An obvious point of contact between these
technologies is that they are largely based on high
*Tel.: +44-207-59-46208; fax: +44-207-823-8125.
E-mail address: t.tate@ic.ac.uk (T.J. Tate).
0042-207X/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 4 2 - 2 0 7 X( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 6 4 - 6
vacuum: old distinctions between semiconductor
vacuum systems (very high purity, small sample
surface area) and coatings applications (less high
vacuum, large (convoluted) surface area), are
becoming less relevant, as vacuum system technol-
ogy advanceslargely as a result of the stringent
requirements of semiconductor processing. At this
conference, delegates representing vacuum equip-
ment will be able to expand on this aspect.
One would expect semiconductor processing
technology to provide a rich mine of techniques
for translation into other applications. The most
obvious example of this is in the new discipline
of microengineering, in which VLSI technologies
and processes have been re-applied to connect
mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering,
with applications in medicine, biology, uid and
space systems, and in which the processing is not
necessarily conned entirely to silicon.
3. Technology transfer examples
There is no prescriptive method for innovation,
and so this paper aims to illustrate the way that
some techniques have been transferred from one
domain to another:
4. Micromachined quadrupole mass spectrometer
(lQMS)
QMS is a well-established technique, generally
employing large UHV systems and expensive
electronics, operating at high voltages [6], and
demanding precise tolerances in mechanical de-
sign. The QMS lens system is composed of four
metallic rods with critical dimensions and separa-
tion, which have to be parallel over their length.
Small QMS lens systems, scaled down to sub-
millimeter rod diameters, and lengths in the order
of cm, would give reduced resolution, at high
pressure and low voltage. There is a large and
growing market for chemical sensors in elds as
diverse as space and oil wells, medical and
automotive [7]. We have pioneered a microma-
chined QMS [8,9], using techniques borrowed
from semiconductor processing and optical bre
manufacture.
Single crystal (1 0 0) silicon can be etched in
ethylene diamine pyrocatechol (EDP), to produce
precise vee grooves. This has been exploited in the
manufacture of mounting and connecting devices
for optical bres [10]. The mQMS (Fig. 1) uses this
technology to mass produce precise, accurate dies
to hold the QMS rods. The rods themselves are
made from glass, sputter coated with gold to make
them conductive, and nally, the dies are held at a
precise separation by the use of (non-metallised)
glass spacer rods. Glass rods were chosen for the
electrodes and the spacers because they are rapidly
and easily made by pulling, using methods
designed for the manufacture of optical bres,
giving excellent surface nish and precise control
of the radius, which may be made to arbitrary
dimensions. In this case, the constraints are
imposed by the precise requirements [11] of spacer
rod dimensions (controlling electrode rod separa-
tion) and electrode rod radius. This method of
manufacture leads to a simple device which may be
SiO2 insulation layer
Al metallisation
SiO2 alignment rod
Au Metallised
SiO2 electrode rods
Alignment groove
Etched (100) Si wafer
Fig. 1. In the self-aligning microengineered QMS lens assembly, the electrodes are made from metallised silica rods, precisely located
in grooves, etched in silicon, and with glass alignment rods.
T.J. Tate / Vacuum 67 (2002) 605609 606
mass produced at a very low unit cost, and in
which the dies are fully self-aligning: the mechan-
ical alignment is dictated by the accuracy of the
crystalline lattice of the silicon. This disposable
mQMS will access a wide range of new sensor
markets, and has a total length of 3 cm, with rod
diameters of the order of 0.5 mm.
5. Taking VLSI processing into the third dimension
The next example of the transfer of ideas across
discipline boundaries also comes from our work in
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), and
addresses the problem that semiconductor proces-
sing is almost entirely planar and two dimensional.
There are situations, for example when making
inductive elements, or in micromechanics, when it
would be advantageous to be able to make
structures which project out of the standard 2D
plane. These structures need to be self-assembling,
both from the view of the small dimensions and
the inherent increase in efciency conferred by
parallel-processing systems. To achieve this, struc-
tures are made in 2D by standard lithographic
patterning and etching techniques, with the provi-
sion of a hinge made of a material which may be
melted in a controlled manner. We [12] have used
solder, and melted it by heating. As the solder
melts, surface tension forces make it assume a
minimum energy conguration, lifting the attached
structure out of the plane: when the solder cools,
the hinged structure is xed in a new orientation: by
careful engineering, the angle can be controlled.
Fig. 2 shows this technique employed to form an
out-of-plane inductor element [13].
6. Spin-on-glass optical coatings
The eld of optics is closely related to electro-
nics, and so we might expect there to be a large
amount of technology transfer between the two
disciplines. The following illustrates a novel
application of a standard piece of VLSI produc-
tion equipment, the rapid thermal annealer (RTA),
which is used routinely [14] in semiconductor
processing to activate implanted dopants without
excessive diffusion, but it also provides a method
of rapidly heating any material on the silicon. We
have made doped glass structures on silicon
substrates, for waveguide applications [15], by
depositing solgel glasses (e.g. Tetraethyl Orthosi-
licate (TEOS), phosphosilicate glass (PSG), doped
silica), deposited in liquid form by dispensing onto
a spinning silicon substrate, and then using RTA
in an oxygen ambient, to densify the lm and to
burn off any remaining organic precursor.
The advantage of this method is that large
stresses develop in the lm, and so each individual
lm has to be thin to avoid damage to the
substrate: by careful choice of spin and RTA
conditions, [16] it is possible to control the lm
stress so that the glass is always under tension, and
many lms may be deposited sequentially, rapidly
building up a thick (typically 30 mm) glass layer,
without the use of the extremely hazardous
chemicals such as phosphine needed in equivalent
CVD or PECVD processes.
7. Microbial applications of VLSI-derived
technology
Surface modications and coatings are well
established in medical elds. Apart from mechan-
ical and corrosive properties, there is interest in
controlling cell adhesion [17], and more recently,
Fig. 2. Construction of a micromachined silicon inductor loop,
raised from the silicon plane by the application of surface
tension effects.
T.J. Tate / Vacuum 67 (2002) 605609 607
microbial adhesion and proliferation [18]. Looking
at a micrograph of dentine, we were struck (Fig. 3)
by the similarity with holes, etched using a
natural lithographic method pioneered at Im-
perial [19]. When exposed to the atmosphere, thin
lms of vacuum deposited, hygroscopic, CsCl re-
organise into a distribution of hemispherical
islands. The kinetics of island array formation
have been studied on GaAs [20] and Si/SiO2 [21],
and island distributions and packing factors are
well established. Mean island diameters ranging
from 15 nm to 1.5 mm have been made: this is not
the full range available. The distribution of CsCl
islands is reproducibly controlled by exposing
vacuum deposited thin lms of set thickness to a
set humidity for a set time. Because this is not an
optical, line-of-sight technique, natural lithogra-
phy will allow the application of patterning
techniques to curved surfaces, such as those found
on real dental implants: a further instance of
enhanced technology transfer. By mimicking
naturally occurring surface patterns, and reprodu-
cing them on the surface of titanium dental
implants, we hope [22] to gain an understanding
of the factors affecting adhesion and proliferation
of microbes on surfaces.
8. Summary
This paper has attempted to show how innova-
tion may be nurtured by transferring ideas,
methods, and technologies from one eld, typied
by VLSI, into others, ranging from micromachines
through chemical analysis and optical processing,
to medical and dental applications. Innovative
transfer usually requires a nucleation point, at
which some known effect is seen in a new
application area. These inspirations are effectively
random, but the chances of their occurring may be
increased: necessary conditions for this to occur
effectively include:
*
A good understanding of technological meth-
ods.
*
The observation of parallels and similarities
between a known technology and a new
application eld.
*
The ability to translate the essential technology
from one discipline to another.
We suggest that there are many more examples of
technology transfer, and that VLSI technologies
should provide many seeds from which techniques
may be transplanted to the surface coating and
hard metals elds.
Acknowledgements
This paper draws on several research projects at
Imperial College, and I would like to take this
opportunity to thank my colleagues in the Optical
and Semiconductor Devices group of the Electrical
and Electronic Engineering Department of Imper-
ial College for their help and co-operation. I
acknowledge a wealth of useful advice concerning
Fig. 3. Comparison of naturallyoccurring features in dentine (Left-hand micrograph), with (Right-hand micrograph) B1 mm holes,
etched in aluminium foil by island lithography.
T.J. Tate / Vacuum 67 (2002) 605609 608
surface coatings, given by Dr Jonathan Housden,
of Tecvac UK, and I am grateful to the conference
committee for inviting me to present this paper.
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