DRIEandLIGATechnology

By
Brook Degef and Hannah Park
ENEE 416
October 13, 2009
What is DRIE?
Deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) is a very anisotropic etching process.
Used to achieve high-aspect ratio (up to 50:1).
Selectively enhancing the etching rate at the bottom of the trench while
inhibiting lateral etch rate.
Etch depths of hundreds of microns can be achieved with almost
vertical sidewalls.

Common RIE Setup

A RIE consists of
 Two electrodes (1 and 4)
Electric field (3)
Surface of the samples (5)
Plasma that contains both positively and
negatively charged ions (2)
Surface of the samples (5).

These ions are generated

from the gases usually O2
and CF4 pumped in.

Types of DRIE
Two Types of processes Cryogenic and Bosch.

Cryogenic
The wafer is chilled to −110 °C.
The low temperature slows down the chemical reaction that produces isotropic etching.
However; ions continue to bombard the horizontal surfaces and etch them away.
Draw back
At this very low temperature the mask could break.
By-products have a tendency of depositing on the nearest cold surface, i.e. the substrate
or electrode.
As a result of these drawbacks this techniques is not commercially viable.

Types of DRIE continued

Bosch
The primary technology is based on two
different gas compositions are alternated
in the reactor.

The first gas composition creates a

polymer on the surface of the substrate,
and the second gas composition etches
the substrate.

To etch through a 0.5 mm silicon wafer,

100–1000 etch/deposit steps are needed.
Pros/Cons

Pros
High aspect ratios (up to 50:1).
Deep etching (10µm-700µm).
High etch rate (4-20µm/min).
+/- 0.5 deg sidewall angle control.

Cons
New tools cost $½m to $1m.
Only single wafers are processed at a time.

Applications
Automotive industry
Pressure sensors
Accelerometers
Miniature gyroscopes
 Digital light processing (DLP) chips for video projection systems in
industry and at home.

Parts of printer ink jet heads.

What is LIGA?
 Stands for lithiography, galvanoformung and
abformung which when translated means
lithography, electroplating, and molding respectively
 Newly developed process that uses thick
photoresists as molds which are subsequently filled
with metal plating processes.
 Two main types of LIGA techniques:
– X-RAY LIGA which uses X-rays to create high-aspect ratio
structures
– UV LIGA which creates lower aspect ratio structures.
LIGA setup
 Photoresist (usually PMMA
polymethyl methacrylate) is
placed onto substrate. The
photoresist must have a high
selectivity and be relatively
free from stress when applied
in thick layers.
 The synchrotron emits
highpower, highly collimated
X-rays. This high collimation
permits relatively large
distances between the mask
and the substrate.
LIGA setup continued

 In the electroplating step, nickel, copper, or gold is plated

upward from the metalized substrate into the voids left by the
removed photoresist.
 The photoresist is stripped leaving the metal structures
 The metallic molds can be replicated and reused.

Types of LIGA
 X-ray LIGA which uses X-rays to create high-aspect
ratio structures
– Uses x-rays to expose
– More expensive but precise in features
– Heights up to 1 mm and a lateral resolution down to 0.2 µm.
 UV LIGA
– Uses UV light to expose
 – Cheaper and more practical to use
– Lower aspect ratio features

Pros/cons
 Pros
– Feature sizes of several micrometers with structural height
of several 100 µm to several 1000 µm
– Extreme parallelism/verticality of sidewalls
– Also, thickness allows for strength and durability for many
different situations and environments
 Cons
– X-ray masks are expensive to produce
– Machinery is expensive (for X-ray)
– Requires a short-wavelength x-ray source to expose the
photoresist.
– Can be a slow process
Applications
 Production of high-precision parts for MEMS.
 Motor parts that require rotation or movement are easily
created with LIGA technology because of the precise and
careful detail it is able to produce.
 Micro-opto-electromechanical system (MOEMS).
 Sensors, x-ray optical components, and 3D high powered
microwaves all use components that are developed by the
LIGA process.
 Microfluidics. Devices in this field can be used for throughput
screening and therapeutic drug delivery.
 Biotech systems, optical systems, and ink jet printers all require
components that can be fabricated by LIGA technology.