FundamentalsofMicrofabrication

II
Winter2009
Prof.MarcMadou

http://www.almaden.ibm.com:
80/vis/stm/gallery.html

INTRODUCTION:FromICstoMEMS
andNEMS

http://www.almaden.ibm.c
om
:80/vis/stm/gallery.html

NovaSensorAccelerometer

FundamentalsofMicrofabrication

I.FromICstoMEMSandNEMS
Todayscardiffersfromthoseoftheimmediatepostwaryearson
anumberofcounts.Butsupposeforamomentthattheautomobile
industryhaddevelopedatthesamerateascomputersandoverthe
sameperiod:howmuchcheaperandmoreefficientwouldcurrent
modelsbe?TodayyouwouldbeabletobuyaRolceRoycefor$
2.15,itwoulddothreemillionmilestothegallon,anditwould
deliverenoughpowertodrivetheQueenElizabethII.Andifyou
wereinterestedinminiaturization,youcouldplacehalfadozenof
themonapinhead
ChristopherEvans,1979

Content

DefinitionsofICs
MEMS
Whyminiaturization?
TaxonomyofMicrofabricationProcesses
Accuracy/precision
Accuracy/precisionandstandarddeviation
Relativevs.absolutetoleranceinmanufacturing
Mergingoftwoapproaches:Topdownandbottomupmachining
methodologies
Biomimetics
Afewconcludingwordsaboutmanufacturingmethods

DefinitionsofICs

Thetransistorwasinvented1948
bythreeBellLaboratoryengineers
andphysicists.JohnBardeenwas
thephysicist,WalterBrattainthe
experimentalist,andWilliam
Shockley,whobecameinvolved
laterinthedevelopment,wasthe
instigatorandideaman.Theteam
wonthe1956NobelPrizein
physicsfortheirefforts.The
transistordemonstratedforthe
firsttimethatamplificationin
solidswaspossible.

DefinitionsofICs

Diodes

DefinitionsofICs

Therearemanydifferenttypes
oftransistors,butthebasic
theoryoftheiroperationisall
thesame.Thethreeelementsof
thetwojunctiontransistorare
(1)theEMITTER,whichgives
off,oremits,"currentcarriers
(electronsorholes);(2)the
BASE,whichcontrolstheflow
ofcurrentcarriers;and(3)the
COLLECTOR,whichcollects
thecurrentcarriers.

DefinitionsofICs

Thearrowalwayspointsinthe
directionofholeflow,orfrom
thePtoNsections,nomatter
whetherthePsectionisthe
emitterorbase.Ontheother
hand,electronflowisalways
towardoragainstthearrow,
justlikeinthejunctiondiode.

DefinitionsofICs

AforwardbiasedPNjunctioniscomparabletoalowresistance
circuitelementbecauseitpassesahighcurrentforagivenvoltage.
Inturn,areversebiasedPNjunctioniscomparabletoahigh
resistancecircuitelement.ByusingtheOhm'slawformulafor
power(P=I2R)andassumingcurrentisheldconstant,youcan
concludethatthepowerdevelopedacrossahighresistanceisgreater
thanthatdevelopedacrossalowresistance.Thus,ifacrystalwereto
containtwoPNjunctions(oneforwardbiasedandtheotherreverse
biased),alowpowersignalcouldbeinjectedintotheforwardbiased
junctionandproduceahighpowersignalatthereversebiased
junction.Inthismanner,apowergainwouldbeobtainedacrossthe
crystal.Thisconceptisthebasictheorybehindhowthetransistor
amplifies.

DefinitionsofICs

DefinitionsofICs

ThetermtransistorisderivedfromthewordsTRANSferand
resISTOR.Thistermwasadoptedbecauseitbestdescribesthe
operationofthetransistorthetransferofaninputsignalcurrent
fromalowresistancecircuittoahighresistancecircuit.
Basically,thetransistorisasolidstatedevicethatamplifiesby
controllingtheflowofcurrentcarriersthroughitssemiconductor
materials.

QuickTime and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

DefinitionsofICs

Typesoftransistors:
BipolarJunction
Transistor(BJT)
MOStransistor[see
MetalOxide
Semiconductor(MOS)
Capacitor]

DefinitionsofICs

Achiporanintegratedcircuit(IC)isasmallelectronicdevice
madeoutofasemiconductormaterial.Theintegratedcircuit
consistsofelementsinseparablyassociatedandformedonor
withinasingleSUBSTRATE(mountingsurface).Inotherwords,
thecircuitcomponentsandallinterconnectionsareformedasa
unit.Thefirstintegratedcircuitwasdevelopedinthe1950sby
JackKilbyofTexasInstrumentsandRobertNoyceofFairchild
Semiconductor.

DefinitionsofICs

Integratedcircuitsareoftenclassifiedbythenumberof
transistorsandotherelectroniccomponentstheycontain:
SSI(smallscaleintegration):Upto100electronic
componentsperchip
MSI(mediumscaleintegration):From100to3,000
electroniccomponentsperchip
LSI(largescaleintegration):From3,000to100,000
electroniccomponentsperchip
VLSI(verylargescaleintegration):From100,000to
1,000,000electroniccomponentsperchip
ULSI(ultralargescaleintegration):Morethan1million
electroniccomponentsperchip

DefinitionofMEMS

Microelectromechanicalsystems(MEMS),or
micromachining(alsomicromanufacturingand
microfabrication),inthenarrowsense,comprises
theuseofasetofmanufacturingtoolsbasedon
batchthinandthickfilmfabricationtechniques
commonlyusedintheintegratedcircuitindustry
orICindustry.ThisinvolvedoriginallymainlySi
basedmechanicaldevices.

DefinitionofMEMS
MEMS:Microelectromechanicalsystems.Inrecentyears,ithas
becomeobviousthatSiisnotalwaystherightsubstrate,that
batchisoftennotgoodenoughandthatamodularapproachis
sometimesbetterthananintegratedone.Thishasespecially
becomeclearinthecaseofbiomedicalapplications(see
BIOMEMScourse).Thescienceofminiaturizationhas
becomeamuchmoreappropriatenamethanMEMSandit
involvesagoodunderstandingoftheintendedapplication,
scalinglaws,differentmanufacturingmethodsandmaterials.

DefinitionofMEMS

Whyminiaturization?

Minimizingenergyandmaterialsuseinmanufacturing
Redundancyandarrays
Integrationwithelectronics,simplifyingsystems(e.g.,single
pointvs.multipointmeasurement)
Reductionofpowerbudget
Fasterdevices
Increasedselectivityandsensitivity
Widerdynamicrange
Exploitationofneweffectsthroughthebreakdownofcontinuum
theoryinthemicrodomain

Whyminiaturization?

Cost/performance
advantages
Improvedreproducibility
(batchconcept)
Improvedaccuracyand
reliability
Minimalinvasive(e.g.
mosquitoproject)
Dowehaveachoice?(see
nextviewgraphtheLaw
ofAcceleratingReturns)

probiscusisabout75m

Whyminiaturization?

Evolution(sophistication)oflifeformsortechnologyspeeds
upbecausetheyarebuildontheirownrecordeddegreeof
order.RayKurzweilcallsthisTheLawofAccelerating
Returns*
ThisLawofAcceleratingReturnsgaveusevergreaterorder
intechnologywhichledtocomputationtheessenceof
order.
ForlifeformsDNAprovidestherecord.Inthecaseof
technologyitistheeverimprovingmethodstorecord
information.

*RayKurzweilinTheAgeofSpiritual
Machines

Whyminiaturization?

Whyminiaturization?

Mooreslaw(basedonatemporary
methodologyi.e.,lithography)isonlyan
exampleoftheLawofAccelerating
Returns.Beyondlithographywemay
expectfurtherprogressinminiaturization
basedonDNA,quantumdevices,AFM
lithography,nanotubes,etc.

Whyminiaturization?

MooresLaw:Theamountsofinformationstorable
onagivenamountofsiliconroughlydoubledevery
yearsincethetechnologywasinvented.Thisrelation,
firstmentionedin1964bysemiconductorengineer
GordonMoore(whocofoundedIntelfouryears
later)helduntilthelate1970s,atwhichpointthe
doublingperiodslowedto18months.Thedoubling
periodremainedatthatvalueuptolate1999.Moore's
Lawisapparentlyselffulfilling.

Whyminiaturization?

TaxonomyofMicrofabricationProcesses

Accuracy/precision

Accuracyisthedegreeof
correctnesswithwhicha
measuringsystemyieldsthe
truevalueofameasured
quantity(e.g.bullseye).
Accuracyistypicallydescribed
intermsofamaximum
percentageofdeviationexpected
basedonafullscalereading.

Qui ckTi me and a

Graphi cs decompressor
are needed t o see t hi s pi ct ure.
QuickTime and a
Graphics decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

http://ull.chemistry.uakron.
edu/analytical/animations/

Accuracy/precision

QuickTime and a
Graphics decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Precisionisthedifference
betweentheinstruments
reportedvaluesduring
repeatedmeasurementsof
thesamequantity
Precisionistypically
determinedbystatistical
analysisofrepeated
measurements
http://ull.chemistry.uakron.
edu/analytical/animations/

Accuracy/precision

Accuracy,precisionandstandarddeviation

Ameasurementcanbeprecise,but
Qui ckTi me and a
Graphi cs decompressor
maynotnotbeaccurate.
are needed t o see t hi s pi ct ure.
Thestandarddeviation(s)isa
statisticalmeasureoftheprecision
inaseriesofrepetitive
measurements(alsooftengivenas
withNthenumberofdata,xiis
eachindividualmeasurement,andx
themeanofallmeasurements.
X
Thevaluexiiscalledtheresidual
foreachmeasurement.

Relativevs.absolutetoleranceinmanufacturing

Lithographyisexcellentforachievingsmallabsolutetolerances
wecanmakemuchsmallerdeviceswithlithographythanwith
mechanicalmachining.Therelativetoleranceonthosedimensions
thoughisnotsogood;ona100mlinewemightperhapsachieve1
%.Inmechanicalmachiningtermsthisdoesnotevenqualifyas
precisionmachining!
Forasmallrelativetolerance,ultrafinediamondmillingisbetter.
Canbebetterthan0.01%.Ofcoursewecannotmakethingsassmall
aswecanwithlithography.
Theaboveargumentmightdecideyourchoiceofmachining
approachordecidethesizeofthedeviceyouwanttomake.

Relativevs.absolutetolerancein
manufacturing

Lithography(e.g.Si
micromachining)is
excellentforsmall
absolutetolerances
Forrelativetolerances,
ultrafinediamondmilling
isbetter
Insomecaseswemight
wanttokeepour
micromachinesomewhat
largertooptimizerelative
tolerances(seeMass
Spectrometerexample)

100
10
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0.01
1
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0.01
100
1%
10
0.1
km
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cm
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%%
Absolute
Linear
Optic
Arm
House
City
Relative
Atom
Virus
Bacteria
Precision
0.0001
dimension
size
tolerance
Tolerance
tolerances
Machining
for building
Precision
Machining
Application Domain
al house and a lithography based
a
fiber
micromachine

Relativevs.absolutetoleranceinmanufacturing

LawrenceLivermore
NationalLaboratories
(LLNL),atonepointused
LIGAtomakethenext
generationmass
spectrometer
Thepicturebelowshowsan
arrayofholesinPMMAto
electroplateNiposts(poles)
Thediameterofeachholeis
40m!!

Alargermassspectrometer
ismachinedwith
traditionalultrafine
diamondmillingatJPL
Relativetoleranceisbetter
thanwiththeLIGA
machinedone,soits
performanceisbetter

Relativevs.absolutetolerancein
manufacturing

Mergingoftwoapproaches:Topdownandbottom
upmachiningmethodologies
Mosthumanmanufacturingmethodsofsmalldevicesinvolvetop

downapproaches.Startingfromlargerblocksofmaterialwemake
smallerandsmallerthings.Natureworkstheotherway,i.e.,from
thebottomup.Alllivingthingsaremadeatombyatom,molecule
bymolecule;fromthesmalltothelarge.Asmanufacturingofvery
smallthingswithtopdowntechniques(NEMSornano
mechanicaldevices)becometooexpensiveorhitotherbarrierswe
arelookingatnatureforguidance(biomimetics).
Natureandmankindhavedevelopedcompetitivemanufacturing
methodsonthemacrolevel(e.g.,steelversusbone).Biomimetics
mostlyfailedinthelargerworld(seeIcarus).Backgroundreading:
CatsPawsandCatapultsbyStevenVogel(Efficiencyof
mechanicalsystemsinbiologyandhumanengineeringinthe
macroworld).

Mergingoftwoapproaches:Topdownand
bottomupmachiningmethodologies

Onthenanoscalenatureis
outperformingusbyfar(perhaps
becausenaturehashadmoretime
workingtowardsbiological
molecules/cellsthantowards
makinglargerorganismssuchas
treesandus).
Furtherminiaturizationmightbe
inspiredbybiologybutwillmost
likelybedifferentagainfromnature
thedriversforhumanand
naturalmanufacturingtechniques
areverydifferent.

Mergingoftwoapproaches:Topdownand
bottomupmachiningmethodologies

Mergingoftwoapproaches:Topdownand
bottomupmachiningmethodologiesNEMS
MEMSlittlebrotherisNEMS,thetopdown
approachtonanodevices.Thisbiomimetic
approachtonanodevicesIliketocall
nanochemistry.Tosucceedinthelatterwe
willneed:
selfassemblyanddirectedassembly(e.,g,
usingelectricalfieldsseenextviewgraph)
massiveparallelism
understandingofmolecularmechanisms
chemomechanics
engineers/scientistswhounderstandwet
anddrydisciplines

Seeman

Eigler

Montemagno

DaunertMadou

Mergingoftwoapproaches:Topdownand
bottomupmachiningmethodologiesNEMS

Examplenanochemistryapproaches:
Naturalpolymers:e.g.,NAsandproteinsnot
onlyassensorsbutalsoasactuatorsand
buildingblocks(GeneticengineerNAsand
proteinsrelyonextremophilesforguidance)
Mechanosynthesis
NEMS/biologyhybridstolearnonly

Biomimetics

Bimimetics:
Manyexamplesinnatureprovidehints
forfuturemanufacturingmethodsbutas
statedearlierthepurposefortheir
developmentisdifferentfromthe
reasonsforhumanmanufacturing
methods(e.g.,teethandseashellsmight
beexcellentstrongbuildingmaterials
buttheirgrowthistypicallywaytoo
slowtobeattractiveforhuman
manufacturing)

Afewconcludingwordsaboutmanufacturing
methods

Serialversusbatchversus
continuousmanufacturing
methods
Projectedversustruly3D
Additiveprocessversus
subtractiveprocess
Topdownversusbottom
up

Somethingtothinkabout
Lookingbackattheworsttimes,italwaysseemsthattheyweretimesin
whichtherewerepeoplewhobelievedwithabsolutefaithandabsolute
dogmatisminsomething.Andtheyweresoseriousinthismatterthat
theyinsistedthattherestoftheworldagreewiththem.Andthenthey
woulddothingsthatweredirectlyinconsistentwiththeirownbeliefs
inordertomaintainthatwhattheysaidwastrue.
FromRichardP.FeynmaninTheMeaningofitAll.
IfinthecourseoftheselecturesIcanmakeyoudoubtmostofthethings
youhavecometobelievethenIprobablyputyouonthepathof
becomingatruescientist/engineer.

Somethingtothinkabout

Homework

Describetoa12yearold,intheshortestandclearest
fashionhowatransistorworksandwhyitisso
importantinapplicationsallaroundus(figureisok
butwordsarerequired).
Characterizeusingthefollowingcriteria:
projectedversus3D,
serial,batchorcontinuous
topdownversusbottomup
Lasermachining
Mechanicalmachining
Ebeammachiningandplasticmolding.
Calculatethenumberatomsina100mlongAg
line(1mwideand1mheigh).Ifweputone
atomdownpersecond(e.g.,usinganSTM)how
longwillittaketofinishthisAgline?