Table of contents

This paper reports the application of novel contact printing lithography to fabricating patterned sapphire substrates (PSSs) used in light emitting diodes (LEDs). This contact printing lithography method can directly transfer a metal film pattern from a silicon mold to a sapphire substrate, and subsequently use the transferred metal film pattern as the etching mask for inductively coupled plasma etching on the sapphire substrate. The strength of this new approach lies on its capability of achieving sub-micrometer- or nanometer-scaled patterning in a direct, easy and large-area way as well as for obtaining deeper etching depth on sapphire because of excellent etching selectivity of metal films. Experiments have been carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of using this new approach for obtaining sub-micrometer surface structures on the complete surface area of a 2'' sapphire substrate. The PSSs can be used for high brightness LEDs.

This paper investigates the development rate of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) after it is exposed to synchrotron x-ray radiation. The x-ray exposures were performed at both Synchrotron Radiation Center and Brookhaven National Laboratories. The development rate of PMMA in a variety of developers was measured as a function of absorbed x-ray dose (J cm⁻³). The development rate of four different types of PMMA was investigated: unexposed 950k PMMA, Cryo GMS PMMA, Goodfellow CQ PMMA, and Crosslinked PMMA. It was found that the development rate is the same for all types of PMMA studied. The temperature dependence of one developer, GG developer, was studied in detail and it is shown that the selectivity of exposed to unexposed PMMA increases as the temperature is reduced.

This paper describes an investigation of the performance compromises imposed by a manufacturing approach that utilizes lithographic micromachining processes to fabricate a wireless beta/gamma radiation detector. The device uses in-package assembly of stainless steel electrodes and glass spacers. These elements are micromachined using photochemical etching and powder blasting, respectively. The detector utilizes a commercial, TO-5 package that is hermetically sealed at 760 Torr with an Ar fill-gas. Gas microdischarges between the electrodes, which are initiated by the radiation, transmit wideband wireless signals. The detector diameter and height are 9 and 9.6 mm, respectively, and it weighs 0.97 g. The device performance has been characterized using various sealed, radioisotope sources, e.g., 30–99 µCi from ¹³⁷Cs (which is a beta and gamma emitter) and 0.1 µCi from ⁹⁰Sr (which is a pure beta emitter). It has a measured output of >15.5 counts s⁻¹ when in close proximity to 99 µCi from ¹³⁷Cs. The wireless signaling spans 1.25 GHz at receiving antenna-to-detector distances >89 cm, when in close proximity to a 0.1 µCi ⁹⁰Sr source. The estimated intrinsic detection efficiency (i.e. with the background rate subtracted) is 3.34% as measured with the biasing arrangement described in the paper.

Silicon microheaters for local growth of a vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) were fabricated. The microheaters had a four-point-probe structure that measured the silicon conductivity variations in the heated region which is a measure of the temperature. Through FEM simulations the temperature was determined on the entire microheater structure, and the simulated temperatures were verified by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The microheaters provided a temperature gradient along which VACNTs were grown at 575–800 °C simultaneously. The VACNT growth activation energy was determined to 0.86 eV from the VACNT growth rate variation along the microheater's temperature gradient.

This work uses a finite volume method to investigate three-dimensional acoustic streaming patterns produced by surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagation within microdroplets. A SAW microfluidic interaction has been modelled using a body force acting on elements of the fluid volume within the interaction area between the SAW and fluid. This enables the flow motion to be obtained by solving the laminar incompressible Navier–Stokes equations driven by an effective body force. The velocity of polystyrene particles within droplets during acoustic streaming has been measured and then used to calibrate the amplitudes of the SAW at different RF powers. The numerical prediction of streaming velocities was compared with the experimental results as a function of RF power and a good agreement was observed. This confirmed that the numerical model provides a basic understanding of the nature of 3D SAW/liquid droplet interaction, including SAW mixing and the concentration of particles suspended in water droplets.

A simple, miniaturized and very sensitive electrochemical microsensor has been designed, fabricated and tested to detect trace levels of organophosphorus (OP) compounds. The device is a silicon-based microsensor with a Teflon nanoporous membrane supported on silicon. It uses the reaction of a hydroxamic acid with OP to yield cyanide ions that can be detected electrochemically. The microsensor developed here shows a very sensitive response to an ultra-low level of OP simulant. The inertness of a silicon substrate and also the reduced diffusion time of cyanide ions to the electrode with the nanoporous gas–liquid interface are the factors that tremendously enhance the sensitivity of our detector.

A microfluidic flow meter based on cantilever deflection is developed, showing a resolution down to 3 nL min⁻¹ for flows in the microliter range. The cantilevers are fabricated in SU-8 and have integrated holes with dimensions from 5 × 5 to 20 × 20 µm². The holes make it possible to measure in a liquid environment. With a lithography optimization, holes as small as 3 × 3 µm² can be opened. Further on, an isotropic Si etch step is inserted into the fabrication sequence to ensure a high release yield of the devices (percentage of usable/not broken chips compared to the amount of released chips). With this etch the cantilever structures are under-etched before they are released by tweezers and the release yield is enhanced from 41.5% to 84.0%. In a continuous flow mode, the deflection of the cantilevers is directly proportional to the flow rate. By tuning the design of the integrated grid (hole size, hole-to-hole distance, amount of holes, etc) the sensitivity of the sensor can be changed.

In this work, the orientation-dependent adsorption of surfactant molecules on the silicon surface during etching in surfactant-added tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) is investigated. Triton X-100 (C₁₄H₂₂O(C₂H₄O)_n, n = 9–10) and 25 wt% TMAH are used as surfactant and main etchant, respectively. The crystallographic planes affected by the surfactant molecules are determined by analyzing the etching behavior of different mask patterns on Si{1 0 0} wafers and silicon hemispheres in pure and surfactant-added TMAH. Taken together, the shapes of the etched profiles and the analysis of the hemispherical etch rates confirm that thick and dense adsorbed surfactant layers are typically formed on both the exact and vicinal Si{1 1 0} surfaces. In addition, the results indicate that the adsorbed surfactant layer behaves as a permeable mask, partially slowing down the etch rate of the affected surface orientation/s and thus enforcing their appearance on the etching front. The peculiar etching properties of surfactant-added and surfactant-free TMAH are then utilized for the fabrication of advanced micromechanical structures with new shapes on Si{1 0 0} wafers and polydimethylsiloxane based on complex Si{1 0 0} molds.

We have developed an integrated piezoresistive pressure and temperature sensor for multiphase chemical reactors, primarily Kraft pulp digesters (pH 13.5, temperatures up to 175 °C, reaching a local maximum of 180 °C and pressures up to 2 MPa). The absolute piezoresistive pressure sensor consisted of a large square silicon diaphragm (1000 × 1000 µm²) and high resistance piezoresistors (10 000 Ω). A 4500 Ω buried piezoresistive wire was patterned on the silicon chip to form a piezoresistive temperature sensor which was used for pressure sensor compensation and temperature measurement. A 4 µm thick Parylene HT® coating, a chemically resistant epoxy and a silicone conformal coating were deposited to passivate the pressure sensor against the caustic environment in Kraft digesters. The sensors were characterized up to 2 MPa and 180 °C in an environment chamber. A maximum thermal error of ±0.72% full-scale output (FSO), an average sensitivity of 0.116 mV (V kPa)⁻¹ and a power consumption of 0.3 mW were measured in the pressure sensor. The sensors' resistances were measured before and after test in a Kraft pulping cycle and showed no change in their values. SEM pictures and topographical surfaces were also analyzed before and after pulp liquor exposure and showed no observable changes.

A single-step method for the fabrication of large-area microlens arrays on flexible polycarbonate sheets is described. On areas of approximately 1 cm², 17 million to 120 million microlenses ranging in size from sub-micrometer to several micrometers are fabricated via deep-UV pulsed laser interference ablation. The uniformity and surface quality of fabricated microlens arrays are examined and confirmed through atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Optical imaging performance of the microlenses, and their use in massively parallel, pulsed laser nanofabrication on silicon is demonstrated. The microlens arrays can be fabricated in a matter of seconds, suggesting the potential for fast and low-cost production on flexible plastic substrates.

Si–C–N/Si based MEMs are advantageous to conventional MEMS because of their ease of fabrication and high temperature sustainability. The failure mechanism of such systems has to be known for their efficient performance. Nanoindentation and scratch behavior were performed on Si–C–N coatings deposited on silicon substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. Crack growth and propagation were studied using optical and SEM views of the deformed region. Different failure mechanisms were observed and analyzed. The crack deflection was due to nanocrystalline phases in the Si–C–N nanocomposite film, as no such deflection was observed in the amorphous CNx film. A different failure mechanism in the form of tensile and conformal cracking was observed. The films' failure mechanism changes from cohesive failure at lower loads to adhesive failure at higher loads during nanoscratching.

Arrays of microwells connected by nanoscale channels with sizes on the order of 10 nm can be created in an ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGMDA) polymer using the DNA combing and imprinting technique. Larger micro-scale channels which lead into the microwell/nanochannel arrays are needed to allow the arrays to be externally filled with desired reagents, molecules and cells. In this work, direct-write femtosecond laser ablation was employed as a post process to fabricate these microscale filling channels. Single pulse and multiple pulses overlap ablation was first conducted on an EGMDA polymer using a focused femtosecond laser beam. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to measure the ablated channel width. Single pulse ablation threshold fluence and incubation coefficient were found and were used to predict microchannel width. Finally, femtosecond laser ablation was used to fabricate filling channels on microwell/nanochannel arrays. Fluorescent flow testing was performed to verify fluid connectivity between the laser-ablated filling channels and the microwell/nanochannel array.

The Si/SiO₂/Ti/Au–Au/Ti/a-Si/SiO₂/Si bonding structure, which can also be used for the bonding of non-silicon material, was investigated for the first time in this paper. The bond quality test showed that the bond yield, bond repeatability and average shear strength are higher for this bonding structure. The interfacial microstructure analysis indicated that the Au-induced crystallization of the amorphous silicon process leads to big Si grains extending across the bond interface and Au filling the other regions of the bond interface, which result into a strong and void-free bond interface. In addition, the Au-induced crystallization reaction leads to a change in the IR images of the bond interface. Therefore, the IR microscope can be used to evaluate and compare the different bond strengths qualitatively. Furthermore, in order to verify the superiority of the bonding structure, the Si/SiO₂/Ti/Au–a-Si/SiO₂/Si (i.e. no Ti/Au layer on the a-Si surface) and Si/SiO₂/Ti/Au–Au/Ti/SiO₂/Si bonding structures (i.e. Au thermocompression bonding) were also investigated. For the Si/SiO₂/Ti/Au–a-Si/SiO₂/Si bonding structure, the poor bond quality is due to the native oxide layer on the a-Si surface, and for the Si/SiO₂/Ti/Au–Au/Ti/SiO₂/Si bonding structure, the poor bond quality is caused by the wafer surface roughness which prevents intimate contact and limits the interdiffusion at the bond interface.

The design of ultra-low power micro-hotplates on a polyimide (PI) substrate supported by thermal simulations and characterization is presented. By establishing a method for the thermal simulation of very small scale heating elements, the goal of this study was to decrease the power consumption of PI micro-hotplates to a few milliwatts to make them suitable for very low power applications. To this end, the mean heat transfer coefficients in air of the devices were extracted by finite element analysis combined with very precise thermographic measurements. A simulation model was implemented for these hotplates to investigate both the influence of their downscaling and the bulk micromachining of the polyimide substrate to lower their power consumptions. Simulations were in very good agreement with the experimental results. The main parameters influencing significantly the power consumption at such dimensions were identified and guidelines were defined allowing the design of very small (15 × 15 µm) and ultra-low power heating elements (6 mW at 300 °C). These very low power heating structures enable the realization of flexible sensors, such as gas, flow or wind sensors, for applications in autonomous wireless sensors networks or RFID applications and make them compatible with large-scale production on foil such as roll-to-roll or printing processes.

In this paper, we describe a cantilever-type electrode (CE) array-based high-throughput sorting platform, which is a tool used to separate microparticles using gravitation and negative dielectrophoretic (n-DEP) force. This platform consists of meso-size channels and a CE array, which is designed to separate a large number of target particles by differences in their dielectric material properties (DMP) and the weight of the particles. We employ a two-step separation process, with sedimentation as the first step and n-DEP as the second step. In order to differentiate the weight and the DMP of each particle, we employ the sedimentation phenomena in a vertical channel and the CE-based n-DEP in an inclined channel. By using three kinds of polystyrene beads with diameters of 10, 25 and 50 µm, the optimal population (10⁷ beads ml⁻¹) of particles and the appropriate length (25 mm) of the vertical channel for high performance were determined experimentally. Conclusively, by combining sedimentation and n-DEP schemes, we achieve 74.5, 94.7 and 100% separation efficiency for sorting microparticles with a diameter of 10, 25 and 50 µm, respectively.

This paper reports a novel and versatile water droplet self-alignment technique where the water is delivered in mist form onto the assembly site. The droplet forming process has been carefully investigated using machine vision, where each individual droplet on the microchip surface can be identified and the volume per surface area can be calibrated at a specific time. The result reveals that the volume of water droplets on the assembly surface grows linearly as a function of time. Self-alignment based on the mist-induced droplets has been studied, where a robotic microgripper is used to deliver the microchips on the assembly site. The paper also investigates the maximum tolerance of the initial placement error in stacking SU-8 chips 200 × 200 × 70 µm in size, and the possibility of stacking two SU-8 chips of different dimensions using the proposed self-alignment technique. Moreover, self-alignment of chips on hydrophilic/hydrophobic patterns covered by mist-induced water droplets has been studied. The experimental results indicate that this novel self-alignment technique is very promising. Furthermore, a statistical model has been used to validate the experimental results.

This paper presents the analysis and preliminary design, fabrication, and measurement for mechanical vibration-isolation platforms especially designed for resonating MEMS devices including gyroscopes. Important parameters for designing isolation platforms are specified and the first platform (in designs with cascaded multiple platforms) is crucial for improving vibration-isolation performance and minimizing side-effects on integrated gyroscopes. This isolation platform, made from a thick silicon wafer substrate for an environment-resistant MEMS package, incorporates the functionalities of a previous design including vacuum packaging and thermal resistance with no additional resources. This platform consists of platform mass, isolation beams, vertical feedthroughs, and bonding pads. Two isolation platform designs follow from two isolation beam designs: lateral clamped–clamped beams and vertical torsion beams. The beams function simultaneously as mechanical springs and electrical interconnects. The vibration-isolation platform can yield a multi-dimensional, high-order mechanical low pass filter. The isolation platform possesses eight interconnects within a 12.2 × 12.2 mm² footprint. The contact resistance ranges from 4–11 Ω depending on the beam design. Vibration measurements using a laser-Doppler vibrometer demonstrate that the lateral vibration-isolation platform suppresses external vibration having frequencies exceeding 2.1 kHz.

Micromachined electrical switches with bi-stable springs, which can stay at one of the two stable states without consuming energy, are proposed. Cascaded bent beams are incorporated as thermoelastic microactuators and are characterized through a coupled electro-thermo-mechanical analysis using ANSYS. For improved electrical switch performance, the contact resistances should be kept as low as possible. Therefore, the shape of the contact head needs to be optimized, though to date there have been few studies pertaining to the contact heads of electrical switches reported, except for a flat contact shape. In this paper, the effects of contact angle on the electrical resistance are investigated for contact angles of 30°, 45°, and 60°. It is subsequently observed that the contact resistance decreases with the contact angle due to a greater normal contact force; the minimum contact resistance is 0.22 Ω at a contact angle of 60°. The contact resistance shows negligible change during repeated ON/OFF switching operations.

We present a simple, fast, and cost-effective process for three-dimensional (3D) micro probe array fabrication using multi-step electrochemical metal foil etching. Compared to the previous electroplating (add-on) process, the present electrochemical (subtractive) process results in well-controlled material properties of the metallic microstructures. In the experimental study, we describe the single-step and multi-step electrochemical aluminum foil etching processes. In the single-step process, the depth etch rate and the bias etch rate of an aluminum foil have been measured as 1.50 ± 0.10 and 0.77 ± 0.03 µm min⁻¹, respectively. On the basis of the single-step process results, we have designed and performed the two-step electrochemical etching process for the 3D micro probe array fabrication. The fabricated 3D micro probe array shows the vertical and lateral fabrication errors of 15.5 ± 5.8% and 3.3 ± 0.9%, respectively, with the surface roughness of 37.4 ± 9.6 nm. The contact force and the contact resistance of the 3D micro probe array have been measured to be 24.30 ± 0.98 mN and 2.27 ± 0.11 Ω, respectively, for an overdrive of 49.12 ± 1.25 µm.

The principles of design and manufacturing of the polymer planar x-ray lenses focusing in one and two directions, as well as the peculiarities of optical behaviors and the results of the lens test are reported in this paper. The methods of electron and deep x-ray lithography used in lens manufacturing allow the manufacture of ten or more x-ray lenses on one substrate; the lenses show focal lengths down to several centimeters for photon energies between 5 and 40 keV. The measured focus size was 105 nm for a linear lens with an intensity gain of about 407, and 300 × 770 nm for a crossed lens with an intensity gain of 6470.

Improvement of the surface roughness and optical transparency of microstructures lithographically fabricated in APEX^TM glass was accomplished through a post-etch anneal. An optimal dose of UV radiation is found to be 24 J g⁻¹ for a wavelength of 280 nm, after which etch rate in HF acid and selectivity saturate. The anneal process, while originally designed to improve the surface roughness by reflowing, can be used to join multiple structures for the creation of optically transparent three-dimensional devices. The resulting glass microstructures demonstrate an average sidewall RMS surface roughness that is reduced from 0.7 µm to 32.7 nm which is adequate for optical signal detection across a wide frequency band that includes the visible spectrum.

We present a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based hot embossing process for low-cost rapid prototyping of plastic microfluidic devices. Unlike the conventional hot embossing process, the process presented here uses a 2 mm thick PDMS mold, two 3/4" wide binder clips, two standard 1 mm thick 1" × 3" microscope glass slides and a standard laboratory oven. Micro-scale features were successfully replicated in 1.5 mm thick polystyrene slides from various PDMS molds. Also, the PDMS molds can be reused for many replications without any damage.

The development of high aspect ratio (AR) structures is of great interest in several fields such as micro-electro-mechanical systems or microfluidics. In this note we present a new processing method of epoxy materials based on direct write laser (DWL) scanning exposure. In this work, we describe the application of this technique for fast prototyping, and the cost-efficient fabrication of structures with a high AR over 40. Such properties demonstrate the proposed DWL of epoxy materials as a promising candidate for the development of polymer-based microsystems.