Lithography is a central microfabrication step. Using photosensitive resist material, master patterns are transfered on the substrate surface. Many lithography and alignment steps over different material layers may be necessary to complete a device.

MA6 Mask Aligner

The MA6 is a contact mask aligner well adapted to the challenging and variable laboratory use, allying precision and flexibility.  The aligner has double microscope field view and a backside CCD camera to allow fast and precise aligment for single and double side needs. It also allows the use of very small samples up to 6 inches full wafers.

Manufacturer : Karl Suss
Model : MA-6/BA-6

• Mask dimensions: ≤ 7″

• Sample size:   1cm2 to 6 in

• Contact modes: 5 available (hard vacuum to proximity)

• Lamp: 350W Hg

• Optics: UV 400 (436 – 405 – 365 – 335 – 313 nm lines)

• Exposure modes: Constant power or constant intensisty

• Alignment modes: Front to front/ back to front (optic)

Surface pretreatment oven

Substrate deshydration and HMDS activation are often key processes to get maximal adhesion of photoresist and surface cleanliness and stability for other processes.

The YES oven has several programmed recipies available, for vacuum or nitrogen environment dehydration and vapor  deposition of HMDS precursor.

Manufacturer: Yield Engineering Systems
Model: YES-310TA

Number of programs available: 12
Silanisation material: HMDS

Photoresist coating

The photolithography room offers 2 spincoating stations.

BREWER SPINCOATER

Small part up to 200 mm wafers may be resist coated using this spincoater. The system include automatic dispense of edge bead removal and photoresist. All staedy state, acceleration and spinnning speeds are programmable.

The attached hotplate allows for high uniformity resist baking.

Manufacturer: Brewer Sciencce
Model: 200cbx

Development BENCH

The clean wet processing bench offers many accesories for manual developping steps and drying. High purity DI water is available.

Available photoresists PROCESSES

OIR 674-11 positive; 1 micron thick
AZ5214-EIR  reversible resist ; used for lift off ;  1.5 microns thick
LOR5  non photosensitive; used for lift-off resist undercoat; 5 microns
KMPR 1005   negative resist, dedicated to  DRIE processes, 5 microns
SU8 Resist (different thicknesses)  negative resist, mainly used for microfluidic applications
AZ MiR 900
PMMA 950 A2  e-beam lithography resist

E-beam lithography permits to draw very high resolution features on substrates down to the nanometer range.

The technique uses a focalised electron beam as the drawing tool on resist precoated samples. Cad drawing tools are used to generate features.

The system also allows for very long path drawings, without stiching faults.

Spécifications techniques

Model : Raith e-line

Beam size:  less than 2 nm at 20 kV
Beam energy:  100eV to 30 KeV
Beam current: 20 pA to 20 nA
Minimum linewidth: 20 nm  (with PMMA950)
Accessories : FBMS (fixed beam moving stage)
Maximum sample size : 10cm
Maximale sample thickness : 2mm

Available resists
PMMA 495 A4
PMMA 950 A2
Copolymer PMMA EL 9
Ma-N 2401

The Picomaster 150  from Raith was installed in december 2024 in the cleanroom.

It is a ighresolution UV direct write tool avble to deliver high performance and process flexibility.

• Resolutions up to 300 nm
• sample size: form a few mm to 150 mm wafers.
• Write area up to 100 mm
• Optical Module with 375 nm wavelength
• Real-time laser controlled auto focus
• Direct drawing option on camera image
• 4095 grayscale levels
• Automatic switching between 4 write modes: 300, 500, 900 nm and 5 microns
• Area search with automatic marker recognition
• Top side alignement only 
• up to 0.3 μm top side alignment accuracy

DEEP REACTIVE ION ETCHING (DRIE-ICP)

Deep Reactive Ion Etching – Inductively Coupled Plasma (DRIE-ICP) is a highly anisotropic process to create tridimensional features in a silicon wafer wafer or other materials. Its main strength is the high aspect ratio that can be reached, up to 30:1. Our DRIE-ICP features a high plasma density, a low pressure during the process, a high etching rate and a good etching uniformity. The DRIE is extensively used for MEMS manufacturing.

USES

• Deep etching of silicon

Technical specifications

Manufacturer : Oxford

Model : Plasmalab System 100 ICP 180

Reactive Ion Etching is mainly used to anisotropically etch complete or structured layers on microelectronic devices.  The choice of gazes as well as their pressures and the plasma power allows for controlled etching of materials.

Technical specifications

Available gases: SF₆, O₂, N₂, Ar, He, CF₄, C₄F₈, CHF₃
Materials: Si, SiO₂, SiN, organics (photoresists, parylene …)
Sample size: few mm  up to full 200 mm wafer
Plasma type:  RF
Plasma power: 300W (max)

The SUSS SB6e allows bonding of materials together for micro electro-mechanical system applications. After positioning and alignment using the MA6 aligner, the substrates are moved to the SB6 and bonded using one of the various available processes such as: Anodic Bonding, Silicon Fusion Bonding (SFB), Adhesive Bonding (ADB), Thermal Compression Bonding (TCB).

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufactureer: Suss Microtech
Sample size (mm): 2,5*2,5 cm parts to full 150mm (6 in ) wafers
Aligment precision after bonding: 1 micron
Temperature (°C): room to 500 Celcius
Maximal applied strenght: de 300 N à 20 KN
Vacuum: 5.10-5 mBar
Available bonding techniques: fusion bonding, Glass frit bonding, direct bonding, polymer adhesive bonding, metal eutectique bonding, anodic bonding, diffusion bonding
Alignment method :    Optical, on mask aligner (MA6).

Parylene coating is  biocompatible, dielectric, and hermetic.  The deposited layer is conformal on exposed surfaces and pinhole free. The evaporation method from a precursor allows deposition to controlled thickenesses from a few nanometer to many microns.

Parylene is a coating material suitable for many applications among these are printed circuits, electronic sensors, medical components and many other substrates.

System description

Manufacturier : Specialty Coating Systems

Modèle : PDS 2010

The saw allows  the dicing of large wafers into individual chips. The precision of the tool maximize device yield.

Technical data

manufacturer:    Advanced Dicing Technology
Model:               ADT 7100 Provectus

minimal sample size:    few mm parts
maximal sample size:   8 inches wafers
Maximal trench depth:   2,1 mm (realised)
Cutting speed:    0 to 600 mm/s
Spindle speed: 60 KRPM max, 1,2 KW
Blades:   resin bond , hubbed nickel bond…etc
Blades diameter:  2 or 3 inches
Trench depth precision:  0.2 microns resolution with  2 micron precision.

Materials : Si, Glass, Pyrex, LiNBO3, SiO2, Ceramic, Si on Glass, Quartz, Aluminium, Ferrite…

SUPERCRITICAL DRYING (CPD)

Supercritical fluids are obtained by heating a gas above its critical temperature or by increasing the pressure above its critical level. Supercritical drying consists of adjusting the temperature and pressure to transform the solvent into a supercritical fluid and then in gas. The liquid present in the system is therefore completely removed. This method is often used in Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) because it prevents damage to the fine machinery of these devices during the transition of the solvent between liquid and gas.

USES

Remove the liquid phase from a system

Spécifications techniques

Manufacturer: Tousimis
Model:  Autosamdri 815B
Samples:  parcelles jusqu’à 100mm de diamètre (4po)
Drying fluid: CO2

Rapid Thermal Annealing is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing that consists of heating a wafer to modify its structural properties. Thermal treatments can activate dopants, relax internal stress, diffuse materials to the interface, cristallize an amorphous layer, etc.

USES

• Activate dopants
• Diffuse materials to the interface
• Relax stress
• Modify the microstructure of thin films (crystallization, densification, defect removal, etc)

Technical specifications

Substrates : Semiconductors, metals, inorganic dielectrics

Sample holder : 4 in. diameter

Steady-state temperature range : 400-1150 °C (max 1350 °C)

Steady-state cycling time : 1-300 s

UHP gases for purging : O2, N2, Ar

Temperature stability : +/- 7 °C

Temperature control :

• Above 800 °C : Optical pyrometer
• Below 800 °C : Thermocouple

Heating rate : 220 °C/s (10-300 °C/s)

Cooling rate : < 80 °C/s (depending on temperature)

Non-uniformity of the radiative flux : < + 0.25%

Manufacturer : AG Associates

Model : Heatpulse 410

The UV ozonizing oven releases a large quantity of ozone to clean surfaces of various materials that are processed by microfabrication. It is particularly effective to eliminate any organic remains.

USES

• Surface cleaning
• Hybrocarbide trace cleaning
• Effective cleaning of inorganic surfaces: Si, quartz, glass, AsGa, SiC, metals (Au, Ni, Fe,…)

Technical specifications

Manufacturer : UVOCS

Model : T10x10 OES

RODAGE/MEULAGE

La polisseuse MetPrep vous permet de polir vos échantillons dans le but de les amincir ou de les préparer pour faciliter par exemple une analyse de surface.  Le choix du degré de rugosité est possible grâce au changement aisé du plateau abrasif.  L’opération de l’appareil peut être faite en mode manuel ou automatique.  Des solution de polissage (slurry) de différent calibres sont disponibles pour compléter le lissage.

Marque/Model: Allied High Tech MetPrep4

Taille d’échantillon: Gaufre 2’’, 4’’ ou 6’’

CMP

Le polissage mécano-chimique (en anglais, Chemical mechanical polishing ou CMP) est un processus de lissage des surfaces utilisant l’action combinée de forces mécaniques et chimiques. Il peut être considéré comme un hybride de la gravure chimique et du polissage par abrasion libre. L’usager a le contrôle sur la vitesse de rotation et la pression pour influer la qualité et la vitesse de polissage.  Les solutions colloidales de polissage à base de silice sont (slurry) utilisées de façon standard mais d’autres formulations sont possibles.

Marque/Model: Strasbaugh 6EC

Taille d’échantillon: Gaufre 4’’ ou 6’’

The analytical probe station allows electrical measurements on any device before encapsulation. The probes are moved individually and allow a precision of one micron. The metallic cage around the station along with the low current cables guarantee RF measurements in an environment without light nor vibration. Sources and multimeters are at the disposal of the users.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

Model : EB-6
Stage : 6″-6″
Stage travel : 2″-2″
Total microscope magnification : 20X à 100X
Resolution : one micron
Accessories : faraday and light shield, anti-vibration table, low current RF cables

The four point probe setup is an easy-to-use system to evaluate the surface resistivity of thin films or the volume resistivity of silicon substrates or other thin conducting materials. The measurement technique relies on two pairs of electrodes, one injecting the current and the other measuring the voltage. This method reduces the error due to the contact resistance between the electrodes and the material, an error typical of the traditional two terminal setups. In addition, GCM Lab setup can make measurements at various temperatures.

USES

Measure the surface resistivity of conducting thin films

Measure the volume resistivity of semiconductors

Determine the resistivity of conductors as a function of temperature

Technical specifications

Probe spacing : 1 mm

Probe radius : 100 µm

Probe material: : Tungsten carbide

Température de mesure : -30 °C to 150 °C

Models : Bridgetech probes, Keithley 220 current source, Agilent 34401A voltmeter, Temptronic TP3000 temperature controller

The GCM has access to several instruments that allow the deposition of metallic films ranging from a few atoms in thickness to several hundreds of manometers. These coatings are particularly useful for the electronic industry but can also be used as wear or corrosion barriers. The most commonly used elements include gold, chromium, titanium, aluminium and silver but most metals can be deposited.

Furthermore, the GCM is a partner of the Functional Coatings and Surface Engineering Laboratory (FCSEL) one of the largest advanced coating laboratories in North America.