Etching chromium

The resist has been used as a mask in wet etching and in lift-off processes, and more recently in etching chromium films in a chlorine-oxygen-helium plasma. In the latter, the etch rates have ranged from 4 to 5.5nm/min at lOOW power in a barrel type reactor. Chromium etches at about 6.5nm/min under these conditions. The etch rate of the resist appears to be independent of the degree to which it has been cured before exposure, so the sensitive form described here is just as effective a mask as the highly cross-linked resists described earlier, at least in the chromium etching process. 

Figure 2.2 A simple fabrication process of active electrokinetically driven micromixers, (a) BOE etching, (b) electron beam evaporation of gold/chromium, (c) gold/chromium etching, (d) cover drilling, and (e) alignment and bonding [62].

Chaudhary, A., Ganguli, B., and Grimes, S. (2006) The regeneration and recycle of chromium etching solutions using concentrator cell membrane technology. Chemosphere, 62 (5), 841-846. 

Iron carbide (3 1), Fe C mol wt 179.56 carbon 6.69 wt % density 7.64 g/cm mp 1650°C is obtained from high carbon iron melts as a dark gray air-sensitive powder by anodic isolation with hydrochloric acid. In the microstmcture of steels, cementite appears in the form of etch-resistant grain borders, needles, or lamellae. Fe C powder cannot be sintered with binder metals to produce cemented carbides because Fe C reacts with the binder phase. The hard components in alloy steels, such as chromium steels, are double carbides of the formulas (Cr,Fe)23Cg, (Fe,Cr)2C3, or (Fe,Cr)3C2, that derive from the binary chromium carbides, and can also contain tungsten or molybdenum. These double carbides are related to Tj-carbides, ternary compounds of the general formula M M C where M = iron metal M = refractory transition metal. 

Chromium compounds are used in etching and bright-dipping of copper and its alloys. A typical composition for the removal of scale after heat-treating contains 30 g/L Na2Cr20y 2H2O and 240 mL/L concentrated H2SO4. It is used at 50—60°C. 

The process consists of pre-etching, etching, etch neutralization, catalyst appHcation, catalyst activation, and plating. Most commercial appHcations, except REl/EMl shielding, use the initial copper or nickel deposit as a base for subsequent electrolytic plating of electrolytic copper, nickel, or chromium. The exact types and thicknesses of metal used are determined by part usage, eg, automotive exterior, decorative, plumbing, and others (24). 

Tin—Nickel. AHoy deposits having 65% fin have been commercially plated siace about 1951 (135). The 65% fin alloy exhibits good resistance to chemical attack, staining, and atmospheric corrosion, especially when plated copper or bron2e undercoats are used. This alloy has a low coefficient of friction. Deposits are solderable, hard (650—710 HV ), act as etch resists, and find use ia pfinted circuit boards, watch parts, and as a substitute for chromium ia some apphcafions. The rose-pink color of 65% fin is attractive. In marine exposure, tin—nickel is about equal to nickel—chromium deposits, but has been found to be superior ia some iadustfial exposure sites. Chromium topcoats iacrease the protection further. Tia-nickel deposits are bfitde and difficult to strip from steel. Temperature of deposits should be kept below 300°C. 

Fig.3.52 Microstructureof30< o chromium iron. Analysis total C 1-6,Si I-8, Cr 31. Etched in Murakami s reagent, total magnification x 150...

Mukherjee studied the gas phase equilibria and the kinetics of the possible chemical reactions in the pack-chromising of iron by the iodide process. One conclusion was that iodine-etching of the iron preceded chromis-ing also, not unexpectedly, the initial rate of chromising was controlled by transport of chromium iodide. Neiri and Vandenbulcke calculated, for the Al-Ni-Cr-Fe system, the partial pressures of chlorides and mixed chlorides in equilibrium with various alloys and phases, and so developed for pack aluminising a model of gaseous transport, solid-state transport, and equilibria at interfaces. 

The reactions which take place when the mixed etch primer is applied to a metal are complex. Part of the phosphoric acid reacts with the zinc tetroxychromate pigment to form chromic acid, zinc phospliates and zinc chromates of lower basicity. The phosphoric acid also attacks the metal surface and forms on it a thin chromate-sealed phosphate film. Chromic acid is reduced by the alcohols in the presence of phosphoric acid to form chromium phosphate and aldehydes. It is believed that part of the chromium phosphate then reacts with the resin to form an insoluble complex. Excess zinc tetroxy chromate, and perhaps some more soluble less basic zinc chromes, remain to function as normal chromate pigments, i.e. to impart chromate to water penetrating the film during exposure. Although the primer film is hard... 

Cihal and Prazak determined the resistance of 18/8 stainless steel to this type of corrosion. They claimed that the technique could be used on steels which are difficult to test by other methods, including steels of low carbon content, and steels in which stabilising elements are present. By means of potentiostatic curves and light etching at constant potential they confirmed that the extent of intergranular corrosion depended upon the amount of precipitated chromium carbide. 

The TFTs are made on transparent glass substrates, onto which gate electrodes are patterned. Typically, the gate electrode is made of chromium. This substrate is introduced in a PECVD reactor, in which silane and ammonia are used for plasma deposition of SiN as the gate material. After subsequent deposition of the a-Si H active layer and the heavily doped n-type a-Si H for the contacts, the devices are taken out of the reactor. Cr contacts are evaporated on top of the structure. The transistor channel is then defined by etching away the top metal and n-type a-Si H. Special care must be taken in that the etchant used for the n-type a-Si H also etches the intrinsic a-Si H. Finally the top passivation SiN, is deposited in a separate run. This passivation layer is needed to protect the TFT during additional processing steps. 

Hexavalent chromium-bearing wastewaters are produced in the metal finishing industry in chromium electroplating, in chromate conversion coatings, in etching with chromic acid, and in metal finishing operations carried out on chromium as a basis material. 

The use of aluminum-based masks in photolithography has been proposed.347 According to the scheme employed, aluminum is deposited onto a polished glass sheet. The regions of the mask that should be light transparent are then converted into porous oxide. As the operation of aluminum anodization exhibits a much better vertical anisotropy than chemical etching, the masks obtained reproduce the parameters of standard masks more precisely than the chromium masks usually used. 

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