Technology Areas
Two departments belong to the ZfM, the department Lithograpy and Pattern Transfer well as the department Layer Deposition.
The department ”Lithography and Pattern Transfer” represents the technological basis for all patterning processes of the Center for Microtechnologies and its partners. In a class 4 (ISO 14644-1) clean room a complete process line for mask fabrication and lithography is available:
- Large variety of wet and dry etching steps, including DRIE
- 4 inch and 6 inch wafers are typically processed
- 5 inch and 7 inch mask fabrication
- Partially process tools are available even for 8 inch wafers
- Optical lithography is based on a mask aligner (up to 8 inch wafers) and an i-line wafer stepper (up to 6 inch wafers)
In addition to the conventional lithography processes, the department is experienced with double-side exposure, spray coating on 3D-surfaces and the treatment of special resist types like SU-8 by using advanced systems. Furthermore, cavities can be filled individually by a special spray robot.
With respect to nanopatterning, more than 20 years experience exists within the e-beam lithography field. In combination with about 10 dry etch tools, typically sub quarter micron structures have been etched into numerous materials. Using resist patterns made by partners and special hard masks, feature sizes smaller than 100 nm have been transferred. At the end of the year 2014 a new e-beam writing system SB 250 from VISTEC Electron Beam GmbH was deployed even for very small dimensions down to 20 nm.
Beside these technology services for internal and external partners, the department is performing R&D projects focusing on dry etching processes and High-Aspect-Ratio-MEMS (HAR-MEMS). This work is addressing applications in microsystems technologies, microelectronics, spintronics and photovoltaics as well. Therefore, etching of new materials and surface modification steps are investigated. Based on the developed and patented AIM technology (Airgap Insulation of Microstructures) a sensor and actuator fabrication platform is available. Using this technology, high performance low-g and vibration sensors are provided to several partners for system integration. For this, much effort has been spent additionally in device characterization at wafer-level and yield improvement too. Another example of successful technology research is the development of a thin film encapsulation procedure and several innovative solutions for the fabrication of backside contacts in order to reduce the package size and costs of MEMS/NEMS.
Head of Department: Lithography and Pattern Transfer
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Dr. Danny Reuter | |
| Deputy: Christian Helke | ||
| Phone: +49 (0)371 531 35041 | ||
| E-Mail: danny.reuter@... |
The section “Layer Deposition” is highly competent in the development and fabrication of conductive and isolating layers and layer stacks for microelectronic and microsystems technologies. For this purpose, the department owns state-of-the-art equipment including a new clean room. The department offers support for advanced process modules for research and development purposes and small volume prototyping.
Process modules available include:
- Physical Vapor Deposition (sputtering, electron beam):
- Sputtering system FHR MS 150 x 4 AE (materials: Ag, Au, Cr, Ti, TiN, Pt, Ta, Ni)
- Sputtering system FHR MS 150 x 4-AE-B (materials: Al, AlN, W, AlSiCu, AlSi)
- Sputter cluster FHR.Star.150Co (Al, Al2O3, Pd, Cr, Ti, TiN, Cu, CuOx, Ge, Si, YBa2Cu3O7, SrTiO3, Ta, TaN)
- Sputter cluster Von Ardenne CS400S (materials: Ta, TaN, Ti, TiN, Cu, Mo)
- Sputter cluster Von Ardenne CS400SR (materials: Al(N), AlScN, Sc, ITO, Ti, TiN, TiO2) with in situ Rapid Thermal Prozessing
- Spintronics sputtering system Singulus Rotaris (materials: MgO, Cu, MnIr20, Ta, Co40Fe40B20, Ni81Fe19, Al, Ru, Ni, Ti, Pt, Co,Co90Fe10, Co20Fe60B20, SiO2, W)
- Sputtering tool Creavac Creamed (Al, Pd )
- Electron-Beam-Evaporation (materials: Co, Ni, Pd, Ti, Ag)
- Atomic Layer Deposition
- scia Atol200-Anlage (Co)
- ALD-FlexAl-Kammer Oxford Cluster (TiO2, Al2O3, HfO2)
- Roth&Rau Microcluster
- Chemical Vapor Deposition (MO-CVD, PE-CVD, LP-CVD):
- PE-CVD-System Precision 5000 Mark II Applied Materials (SiO2, Si3N4, SixOyNz, CF-Polymers)
- PE-CVD-System Plasmalab Plasma Technology (SiO2, Si3N4)
- PE-CVD-System Oxford Cluster, PlasmaPro 100 PE- und PlasmaPro 100 ICP-Kammer (SiO2, Si3N4, SixOyNz, PE-TEOS, amorphous silicon)
- PE-CVD-System Microsys 400 Roth & Rau (Diamond-like Carbon)
- LP-CVD-System LP-Thermtech Sirius 9000 (Si3N4, Polysilizium)
- MO-CVD-System Plasma-Therm Kobus (Cu, TiN, Co) mit in-vacuo XPS-System (Prevac sp. Z.o.o.)
- High-temperature processes (thermal oxidation / annealing)
- For the characterization of the deposited layers and layer stacks we use a lot of measuring methods and systems, for example:
- Surface profiler KLA P17
- Thin film stress measurement system TOHO Technology FLX 2320-S
- White light interferometer Nanometrics NanoSpec / AFC
- Spectroscopic Ellipsometry: Woollam RC2
- Silicon thickness measurement System Breitmeier Messtechnik TRIRCI
- Atomic force microskope Agilent Technologies 5600LS
- White Light Interferometrie
Contact: Layer Deposition
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Dr. Sven Zimmermann | |
| Deputy: Marcel Melzer | ||
| Phone: +49 (0)371 531 33671 | ||
| E-Mail: sven.zimmermann@... |
