Fabrication of microelectronic devices

Radiation-sensitive polymers are used to define pattern images for the fabrication of microelectronic devices and circuits. These polymers, called resists, respond to radiation by either chain scission (positive resists) or by crosslinking (negative resists). In positive resists, the exposed areas dissolve selectively by chemical developers in negative resists, the exposed areas are insoluble and remain after development. 

Self-assembly of nanoparticles in well-ordered 2-D arrays represents a major goal in the fabrication of microelectronics devices (Sun et al. 2002, 2003). Different strategies have been developed to tackle the challenge of well-organized nanoparticles in a 2-D plate surface (Andres et al. 1996 Spatz et al. 2000). Schmid and coworkers (2000) reported a long-range ordered sulfonic acid functionalized nanoparticle array... 

For a number of years, polymers such as polyimide, have been subjected to widespread research, because of their increasing importance as dielectric materials for the fabrication of microelectronic devices (1). In particular, the adhesion of metal or polyimide films deposited on polyimide substrates and vice versa, is of considerable importance in most applications, and many studies ranging from adhesion testing to detailed spectroscopic analysis of interfaces have been reported previously (2,3.. 5.6). 

Modeling of Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactors for the Fabrication of Microelectronic Devices... 

Photoresist A photoimaging material, generally applied as a thin film, whose local solubility properties can be altered photochemically. A subsequent development step produces an image which is useful for the fabrication of microelectronic devices (e.g., integrated circuits). 

Self-assembly of nanoparticles in well-ordered 2D arrays represents a major goal in the fabrication of microelectronics devices. Different methods have been developed to tackle the 2D nanoparticle organization challenge. 

As discussed in Section 10.6, CVD is a very important process in the microelectronics industry. The fabrication of microelectronic devices may include as few as 30 as many as 200 individual steps to produce chips with up to 10 transistors per chip. An abbreviated schematic of the steps involved in producing a typical computer chip (MOSFEl) is shown in Figure 10-34. 

Jensen, K. F., Modeling of Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactors for the Fabrication of Microelectronic Devices, Chemical and Catalytic Reactor Modeling, ACS Symp. Ser. 237, M. P. Dudokovic, P. L. Mills, eds., Washington, D.C. American Chemical Society, 1984,p. 197. 

It has been assumed by the authors that the reader is already familiar with the materials and processes used in the fabrication of microelectronic devices. Persons not familiar with this Information will find it available in the literature (1° - 12). 

Plasmas interact with bounding surfaces in a manner that is largely unknown. A later section of this chapter summarizes electrochemical aspects that involve chemical reactions coupled with charge transfer processes. Such phenomena are utilized extensively in the fabrication of microelectronic devices. 

Chemical reactions initiated in gas discharges and plasmas, in particular in low-temperature, nonequilibrium plasmas, have become indispensable for the advancement of many key technologies in the past 10-15 years (see, e.g Becker et al., 1992 Garscadden, 1992). The plasma-assisted etching of microstructures and the deposition of high-quality thin films with well-defined properties have become crucial steps in the fabrication of microelectronic devices with typical feature sizes of less than 0.5 /rm. The manufacture of state-of-the-art microchips now involves hundreds of process steps, most of them serial, to yield circuits with millions of discrete elements and interconnections in an area of a single square centimeter (Garscadden, 1992). Each step is a physical-chemical interaction that must be controlled. More than one-third of the process steps rely on plasma... 

Wliereas most fabrication of microelectronic devices is carried out by photolithography and tints is intrinsically two-dimensional, increasingly modern devices and micro- (respectively, nano-) stractures for biomedicine require three-dimensional stractures and manufacturing methods. 

Polyifflides are commonly utilized as dielectric layers in the fabrication of microelectronic devices. Hence the metallization of polyimldes and the chemical and physical nature of metal-polyimide interfacea is of great technical importance and has been investigated extensively. Polyimldas perform well In microelectronic... 

Typical reaction schemes related to plasmas applied to the fabrication of microelectronic devices are presented in Schemes 1.14 and 1.15 (the former scheme refers to an oxygen plasma and the latter to a CF4 plasma). 

Porous materials have been extensively exploited for use in a broad range of applications for example, as membranes for separation and purification [44], as high surface-area adsorbents, as solid supports for sensors [45] and catalysts, as materials with low dielectric constants in the fabrication of microelectronic devices [46], and as scaffolds to guide the growth of tissues in bioengineering [47]. 

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