|Publication number||US7892710 B2|
|Application number||US 11/569,602|
|Publication date||Feb 22, 2011|
|Filing date||May 26, 2005|
|Priority date||May 27, 2004|
|Also published as||US20080213524, WO2006007192A2, WO2006007192A3|
|Publication number||11569602, 569602, PCT/2005/18402, PCT/US/2005/018402, PCT/US/2005/18402, PCT/US/5/018402, PCT/US/5/18402, PCT/US2005/018402, PCT/US2005/18402, PCT/US2005018402, PCT/US200518402, PCT/US5/018402, PCT/US5/18402, PCT/US5018402, PCT/US518402, US 7892710 B2, US 7892710B2, US-B2-7892710, US7892710 B2, US7892710B2|
|Inventors||Peng Yao, Dennis W. Prather|
|Original Assignee||University Of Delaware|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (5), Classifications (13), Legal Events (5)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application is a National Stage Entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application PCT/US2005/018402 filed on May 26, 2005. International Application PCT/US2005/018402 claims priority to U.S. provisional application 60/575,074, filed May 27, 2004. The entire contents of each of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention was made with Government support. The Government may have certain rights in the invention under contract number DAAD19-01-2-0001.
This disclosure relates to the manufacture of arbitrary three-dimensional structures on a substrate. Specifically, a method is disclosed for creating three-dimensional structures having dimensions in the micron level, as well as an article of manufacture made from the method which creates three dimensional objects having dimensions in the micron level.
Photolithography has been used for many years to create circuit details for electronic devices. Specifically, the techniques are used to deposit on a substrate layers of material which can be formed into three-dimensional circuit components. A photolithography provides the ability to create from a mask circuit features in the micron level which can be created on the substrate through a combination of deposition, exposure to light through a mask and developing images formed on the substrate. The resulting structures are electrical components which function as transistors and resistor elements which are interconnected in accordance with the mask used to create the layout.
In the field of photonic crystals, there is a need to create small optical (photonic) circuit elements on a substrate having periodic structures with dimensions at the micron level. Also, micro-fluidic devices have been developed which have components with micro-channels also having dimensions in the micron range. Each of these technologies could benefit from a method of manufacture of precision three-dimensional components on a substrate.
This disclosure provides a method, and article of manufacture made by the method, for making three-dimensional structures having micron dimensions. A substrate is coated with a first layer of photo resist. The first layer of photo resist is exposed through a mask to form two-dimensions of a structure on the exposed photo resist. Subsequent layers of photo resist are formed over the exposed first layer, and are in turn exposed through a mask to form additional two-dimensional outlines on each subsequent layer of photo resist. When a plurality of layers of photo resist having two-dimensional outlines are formed on the substrate, the structure is developed. Each exposed outline of a resist layer defines the shape of a three-dimensional object form when all the layers have been developed. The third dimension of the structure is a function of a layer thickness, which is removed for all unexposed areas of each layer.
In accordance with one embodiment, the photo resist is either spun or sprayed in layers on the substrate surface. Each layer is heat treated by a soft bake before it is exposed by the mask. Following exposure of a mask, the substrate and patterned layer are again heated to form the latent image defining two-dimensions of the object. Once all layers are formed with the two-dimensional information, the resist is developed and unexposed areas are removed.
The result of the method is an article of manufacture which has a plurality of layers of photo resist forming objects. The objects are defined in two-dimensions by the light exposed areas of each layer, and in the third dimension by the thickness of the photo resist. Areas which were not light exposed are removed leaving only objects which comprise the exposed areas of each photo resist layer.
3D objects can be fabricated in accordance with this disclosure from a series of layers, where each layer assumes the configuration of a 2D pattern or slice of the desired three-dimensional object. Initially, if the 3D structure is computer generated using mesh graphical techniques, the object can be reduced to a series of two-dimensional patterns or slices. In accordance with the disclosure, each of the slices is reproduced on the substrate as a layer of photo resist, having a two-dimensional pattern which corresponds to a configuration of a slice of the object.
The layers of the object are created in accordance with the process of
The photo resist is selected so that the wavelength of the exposing light 13 is shorter than the wavelength of light with which the resist is designed. For instance, a light source of 254 nm wavelength may be used to expose an i-line resist which is designed for exposure to a wavelength of 365 nm. By mismatching the exposing light and photo resist characteristics, it is possible to confine the exposure to a single layer of photo resist. Exposed areas of the photo resist are subject to cross linking increasing the molecular weight of the exposed resist. Once the material has been subject to cross linking, the exposed areas have no solubility to solvent which is used to remove the resist in unexposed areas. The result is that each layer may have a pattern etched in the photo resist which does not effect the patterns in other layers. Other resist coating methods, or additional coating steps such as spray coating, dry film resist, chemical surface treatment, electron photoretic deposition, etc. may be employed.
Once the first layer 11 has been deposited and exposed through a mask 12, as shown in
The method in accordance with an embodiment may utilize a second bake step, wherein the layer is baked to a temperature of approximately 120° C. (the post exposure bake temperature, as well as the soft bake temperature, depends on particular resist. For example, if another commonly used photoresist SU8 is used, the two bake steps use same temperature condition (60° C. for 1 minute and 90° C. for 1 minute)) following the exposure of the photo resist 11 with a mask 12, which will form the latent image in the event that the image has not been formed immediately after the exposure of the photo resist 11.
Exposed areas of the photo resist layers comprise cross-linked molecules due to the exposure which are not soluble by solvents conventionally used to removed photo resist. Accordingly, during the step of developing the layers of photo resist, to be described with respect to
As shown in
When all of the layers for comprising the 3D structure have been deposited and exposed by the two-dimensional masks, latent images are formed throughout the layers as shown in
The foregoing process can be used to create objects on a substrate having dimensions in microns. This is specifically applicable, but not limited to, the creation of photonic optical circuit devices as well as micro-fluidic devices. Feature size may be limited by the diffusion of photo acid upon the post exposure baking if the cross-linking mechanism is chemically amplified. Using spin coating techniques, the thickness of each layer may be varied so that the objects third dimension may be more precisely controlled.
The total number of layers that can be fabricated depends on the difference of solubility between the cross-linked resist due to exposure, and the uncrossed linked resist which has not been exposed.
The foregoing description of the disclosure illustrates and describes various aspects of the inventive concept. Additionally, the disclosure shows and describes various embodiments of the disclosure in the context of a method for making three-dimensional structures on a substrate having micron dimensions, and an article of manufacture having three-dimensional objects on a substrate with micron dimensions, but, as mentioned above, it is to be understood that this disclosure is capable of use in various other combinations, modifications, and environments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed herein, commensurate with the above teachings and/or the skill or knowledge of the relevant art.
The embodiments described hereinabove are further intended to explain best modes known of practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention in such, or other, embodiments and with the various modifications required by the particular applications or uses of the invention. Accordingly, the description is not intended to limit the invention to the form or application disclosed herein. Also, it is intended that the appended claims be construed to include alternative embodiments.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US5006478||Jul 24, 1990||Apr 9, 1991||Sony Corporation||Method for manufacture of semiconductor device|
|US5408742||Oct 22, 1993||Apr 25, 1995||Martin Marietta Corporation||Process for making air bridges for integrated circuits|
|US5712078 *||Jun 7, 1995||Jan 27, 1998||International Business Machines Corporation||High contrast photoresists comprising acid sensitive crosslinked polymeric resins|
|US20050111781 *||Nov 20, 2003||May 26, 2005||Kanti Jain||Photonic-electronic circuit boards|
|US20050191016 *||Apr 28, 2005||Sep 1, 2005||Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.||Exposure head, exposure apparatus, and application thereof|
|U.S. Classification||430/15, 430/9|
|Cooperative Classification||H01Q15/006, G03F7/0035, G02B6/1225, B82Y20/00, G03F7/0037|
|European Classification||G03F7/00R, G03F7/00S, G02B6/122P, H01Q15/00C, B82Y20/00|
|Dec 8, 2006||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, DELAWARE
Free format text: NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT;ASSIGNORS:YAO, PENG;PRATHER, DENNIS W.;REEL/FRAME:018601/0728
Effective date: 20061128
|Apr 12, 2011||CC||Certificate of correction|
|Oct 3, 2014||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Feb 22, 2015||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|Apr 14, 2015||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20150222