1. Field of the Invention
This invention presents novel processing techniques to overcome lithography issues on extreme topography, particularly, in applications including the fabrication of micromachined structures such as those traditionally characterized as microelectro-mechanical structures (MEMS), including chemical sensors, pressure and temperature sensors, shock sensors, and silicon optical benches, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
MEMs devices typically merge the fields of macrodevices produced by conventional mechanical machining and electronics design with the field of microfabrication, similar to those used in semiconductor processing. MEMs devices, typically characterized as devices ranging from a few microns to several mils in size, are fabricated using semiconductor technology, but with larger ground rules. Dimensions are typically larger in width and length, but also 10× to 100× greater in height. The primary challenge associated with fabricating MEMs devices, therefore, is photolithography, where a non-planar surface is known to be problematic. A complete MEMs device typically will require several levels of lithography. These multi-level structures inherently result in surfaces with topography, originating from wet chemical etching, reactive ion etching, and metal deposition to name a few. Topography may range from a few microns to hundreds of microns. This topography hampers the ability to produce fine lines as the photoresist has to be made quite thick, approximately equal to the topography of the device, in order to get continuous coverage over the topography.
Anisotropically etched silicon cavities produce cavities with edges with abrupt, sharp interfaces at the wafer surface, making use of conventional spin coated photoresists difficult. As shown in
This is a well documented problem. The most common technique employed to overcome this challenge is spray coating of the photoresist. Spray coating has several drawbacks. In order to build the most uniform coating as a thin film, the spray must be done as a mist. A fine mist is susceptible to drying into particulates, which present an entirely new set of problems. Therefore, there is a tradeoff between film thickness and cleanliness, and therefore the film thickness creates a limitation for the lithography. In addition, since the photoresist is a liquid, it will still flow and pile in the bottom of the cavities, which can cause other processing complications.
A second prior art method of addressing extreme topography is to apply multiple layers of photoresist. However, this only solves coverage on the rim. Resist non-uniformities continue to be problematic. Such resist non-uniformities affect the focal depth of the exposure tool and inherently impact the final feature resolution since some features are in focus while others are not. To maintain feature resolution and eliminate issues with focal depth, it is desirable to perform lithography with a uniform resist coating. A level imagining resist plane can be formed using a dry film laminate resist.
Manual techniques for applying beads of photoresist to the rim of the cavities to eliminate voiding have also been investigated. This technique is very costly and slow, and still does not enable images to be placed close to the perimeter of the cavity.
It would be highly desirable to provide a process that essentially planarizes a semiconductor substrate having an extreme topographic surface feature such as a deep cavity in order to create a planar surface for subsequent lithography processing. The planarizing materials may then be removed after lithography.
It would further be highly desirable to provide a process that essentially planarizes a semiconductor substrate having an extreme topographic surface feature such as a deep cavity in order to create a planar surface for subsequent lithography processing including the deposition of features in close proximity to the extreme topographic surface feature (e.g., deep cavity or channel) and, including the deposition of features within the cavity.
The present invention is directed to a process that essentially planarizes a cavity in a semiconductor substrate in order to create a planar surface for subsequent lithography processing. As a result of the planarizing process for extreme topographies, subsequent lithography processing is enabled including the deposition of features in close proximity to extreme topographic surfaces (e.g., deep cavities or channels) and, including the deposition of features within a cavity.
In a first embodiment, the process for planarizing a cavity in a semiconductor substrate in order to create a planar surface for subsequent lithography processing includes the application of a dry laminate resist.
In a second embodiment, the process for planarizing a cavity in a semiconductor substrate in order to create a planar surface for subsequent lithography processing includes the filling of cavity using materials such as polymers, spin on glasses, and metallurgy.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for planarizing extreme topographies on a surface of a semiconductor substrate including at least one deep cavity or channel, the method comprising: providing a thick resist film to bridge said cavity or channel to enable patterning on the surface of a substrate. According to this aspect of the invention, the method for planarizing extreme topographies further includes the formation of a liftoff structure including: patterning a feature over the thick resist film bridge; developing the thick resist film pattern feature to produce an overhang structure including an opening; and, depositing a material on a lower surface of the cavity or channel through the opening.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for planarizing extreme topographies on a surface of a semiconductor substrate including at least one deep cavity or channel, the method comprising providing a planarizing material atop the surface including filling the at least one deep cavity or channel with the planarizing material to produce a planarized surface without need for a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) step. According to this aspect of the invention, the method for planarizing extreme topographies further includes the step of forming a liftoff structure including: patterning a feature over the filled at least one cavity or channel using a mask structure; etching away the planarizing fill material from the cavity or channel according to the patterned feature to produce an overhang structure including an opening atop the cavity or channel; and, depositing a material on a lower surface of the cavity or channel through the opening.
Further features, aspects and advantages of the structures and methods of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
a)-6(c) illustrate steps for patterning a layer using conventional lithographic and etching techniques for fabricating a liftoff structure according to the second embodiment of the invention;
a)-8(e) illustrate steps for patterning a layer using conventional lithographic and etching techniques for fabricating a variation of the liftoff structure according to the second embodiment of the invention.
Laminate resists are thick film resists which are typically designed for plating and chemical etch processes due to their high chemical resistance, e.g., Dupont Riston®, and the like. These films may be applied in sheet form through a heated roller according to known techniques. For this reason, as shown in
An alternative, novel processing technique that offers a reduction in the size of the critical dimension uses a temporary fill material to level the imaging plane and eliminates the topography, allowing for the use of liquid resists. Conformal coverage of the wafer surface with the liquid resists also allows for the flexibility of using both a wet chemical etch and dry etch approach for material removal, specifically for extreme topographies. Whereas, a laminate resist used over deep cavities is limited to dry etch processing only.
The thickness of the photoresist directly scales to the minimum feature resolution. Therefore, according to this further embodiment of the present invention, a fill material is used so that liquid resists can be utilized for lithography. Two potential methods for filling cavities are now described:
A first novel approach involves filling the cavity with a liquid material as shown in
2) A second novel approach in planarizing a wafer surface with extreme topography is to utilize metallurgy as the filler material. An exemplary filler material is defined as one that levels the wafer plane without any discernible topography. Polymers or spin glasses can accomplish planarization, however, the planarizing ability of these materials is compromised as result of solvent loss during the curing steps, resulting in some dimpling at the cavity site. Metallurgy such as Copper, or other materials such as tin-based solder or nickel has exceptional planarizing characteristics when chemically, mechanically polished.
A planarized wafer surface will improve the uniformity of photoresist coatings. With improved resist uniformity, resolution of fine features along a cavity edge can be drastically improved. A highly planarizing material such as Copper is critical in subsequent processing of metal leads, bonding pads, and alignment marks on the substrate surface.
Copper plating can be used to fill cavities both electrolessly and electrolitically. To accomplish filling the cavities with the electroless technique, a metal evaporation mask can be used to fill the cavities with a plating seed layer, consisting of chrome or titanium adhesions layer with a thin copper film. Once the seed layer is in place, the cavity is plated with copper just over the cavity edge. The wafer is then planarized using chemical mechanical polishing.
Additional techniques that can be used to fill the cavities include screening of metal containing pastes, such as copper, solder or other like materials, possibly including glass particles to improve CMP. This process also suffers from shrinkage, but is also within an acceptable range as to provide gentle slopes for uniform resist coating. A similar technique employs an injection molded solder, which utilizes a heated injection head to screen molten solder. That is, a screening technique or molten solder screening technique familiar to skilled artisans may be used to fill a cavity, such as a copper or solder paste to produce a planarized surface without CMP.
Each of the processes described herein additionally allow for liftoff structures such as may be used for depositing images into the cavity, onto the surface of the wafer, and along the slope of the cavity. Depending on where the images are required, CMP may or may not be required to facilitate this process. In either case, a hard mask (such as a metal or oxide layer) is deposited on the planarizing material. This layer is patterned using conventional lithographic and etching techniques such as shown in
For instance, as shown in the exemplary embodiment of
a)-8(e) illustrate steps for patterning a layer using conventional lithographic and etching techniques for fabricating a variation of the liftoff structure according to the second embodiment of the invention. In this alternate embodiment, the processes described herein allow for liftoff structures such as may be used for depositing images into the cavity, onto the surface of the wafer, and along the slope of the cavity.
The techniques of the present invention may be used, for example, in the formation of an optical bench, an exemplary application of which is depicted in
A typical configuration for a silicon optical bench 80 such as shown in
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to illustrative and preformed embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/538,515 filed Aug. 10, 2009; which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/889,437, filed Jul. 12, 2004.
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Abstracted-Pub-No. KR2001001600A, Jan. 5, 2001; Derwent-Acc-No. 2001-481104; Derwent-week:200353; Title: Flip chip bonding method; Inventor: Jun, D.S.; Patent-Assignee: Amkor Technology Korea Inc[Amkon]; 1 page drawing. |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12538515 | Aug 2009 | US |
Child | 13024711 | US | |
Parent | 10889437 | Jul 2004 | US |
Child | 12538515 | US |