Claims
- 1. An x-ray mask tool, comprising:
a silicon substrate having a thickness and a top surface and a bottom surfaces substantially parallel to said top surface, said substrate having at least one pattern etched into said top surface, said pattern extending to a depth into said thickness, said pattern comprising a plurality of etched channels having substantially parallel sides, said channels filled with a metal deposit such that said metal deposit is flush with said top surface, said pattern further comprising features having lateral dimensions of less than 1 micron.
- 2. The x-ray mask tool of claim 1, wherein said metal deposit is any metal capable of attenuating x-ray radiation to an energy of below about 0.1 KeV in a distance of less than about 100 microns.
- 3. The x-ray mask tool of claim 1, wherein said metal deposit is a metal selected from the group consisting of the Transition series of metals listed in New IUPAC Group Numbers 4-12 of the Period Table of elements, aluminum, tin, and alloys thereof.
- 4. The x-ray mask tool of claim 1, wherein said metal deposit consists essentially of gold.
- 5. The x-ray mask tool of claim 3, wherein said metal deposit comprises a thin vapor deposited first metal layer.
- 6. The x-ray mask tool of claim 5, wherein said vapor deposited first metal layer comprises a first layer of chromium.
- 7. The x-ray mask tool of claim 5, wherein said metal deposit is deposited by electroplating.
- 8. The x-ray mask tool of claim 5, wherein said metal deposit is deposited by electroless deposition.
- 9. The x-ray mask tool of claim 5, wherein said metal deposit is deposited by thermal or particle vapor deposition.
- 10. The x-ray mask tool of claim 5, wherein said metal deposit is deposited by sputter deposition.
- 11. The x-ray mask tool of claim 5, wherein said metal deposit is deposited by molecular beam epitaxy.
- 12. The x-ray mask tool of claim 1, wherein said silicon substrate is thinned from said bottom surface to a thickness of less than 100 microns across a zone encompassing said pattern.
- 13. A method for fabricating an x-ray mask tool, comprising the steps of:
providing a silicon substrate; forming a first photoresist layer onto a top surface of said substrate; aligning an image patterning mask onto said photoresist layer, wherein said mask has portions that block light and portions which transmit light; exposing said photoresist layer to a source of broadband light; removing said mask; developing said first photoresist layer and removing a portion of said photoresist thereby exposing areas of said silicon substrate; anisotropically etching said exposed areas to a depth of at least about 10 microns providing thereby a plurality of etched structures having etched walls and bases; removing the remaining photoresist; depositing a thin first layer comprising a metal or metals onto said silicon top surface and onto said etched walls and bases; depositing a thicker second metal layer over said first layer such that said etched structures are completely filled; planarizing said substrate top surface to remove said metal layers from said top surface; and thinning said substrate from a substrate bottom surface in order to achieve a substrate thickness of less than about 100 microns in a region beneath said etched structures.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of providing a silicon substrate comprises providing a silicon substrate that is a standard industry silicon wafer.
- 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the steps of depositing first and second metal layer includes depositing a metal selected from the group consisting of the Transition series of metal listed in New IUPAC Group Numbers 4-12 of the Period Table of elements, aluminum, tin, and alloys thereof.
- 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first step of depositing comprises depositing a metal layer by particle or thermal vapor deposition.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein said first step of deposition includes depositing a layer of chromium followed by depositing a layer of gold.
- 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the second step of depositing comprises depositing a metal layer by electroplating.
- 19. The method of claim 13, wherein said second step of deposition includes electroplating a layer of gold.
- 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of forming a first photoresist layer onto said substrate comprises spin-coating a Novolak photoresist layer on said substrate.
- 21. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of aligning an image patterning mask comprises aligning a positive trace image patterning mask.
- 22. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of aligning an image patterning mask comprises aligning a negative trace image patterning mask.
- 23. A method for fabricating an x-ray mask tool, comprising the steps of:
providing a doped silicon substrate, said dopant rendering said substrate electrically conductive; forming a first photoresist layer onto a top surface of said substrate; aligning an image patterning mask onto said photoresist layer, wherein said mask has portions that block light and portions which transmit light; exposing said photoresist layer to a source of broadband light; removing said mask; developing said first photoresist layer and removing a portion of said photoresist thereby exposing areas of said silicon substrate; anisotropically etching said exposed areas to a depth of at least about 10 microns providing thereby a plurality of etched structures having etched walls and bases; removing the remaining photoresist; depositing a thick first layer comprising a metal or metals onto said silicon top surface and onto said etched walls and bases such that said etched structures are completely filled; planarizing said substrate top surface to remove said metal layers from said top surface; and thinning said substrate from a substrate bottom surface in order to achieve a substrate thickness of less than about 100 microns in a region beneath said etched structures.
Government Interests
[0001] The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000 between the United States Department of Energy and Sandia Corporation, for the operation of the Sandia National Laboratories.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09636002 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10262039 |
Oct 2002 |
US |