JP2011184626A - Method for forming micro structure of polymer material and microstructure body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microstructure composed of a polymer material having low heat resistance. <P>SOLUTION: First, a thin film layer of PLLA is formed (thin film formation step). Then a FIB (Focused Ion Beam) processing is performed for the thin film layer of PLLA (processing step). In the thin film formation step, first, a coating liquid produced by dissolving PLLA in a solvent and diluting the solution is produced (coating liquid preparation: S1). Then a substrate is coated with the coating liquid by rotary coating (rotary coating: S2). Then, the thin film of PLLA on the substrate is irradiated with focused ion beam by using an FIB apparatus (FIB processing: S3). In the operation, the thickness of the thin film layer 12 of PLLA is set ≤1 μm and an electric current of ion beam is set ≤1 nA. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for forming a microstructure formed of a polymer material having a low glass transition point and a low melting point and having an insulating property. Moreover, it is related with the fine structure manufactured by this.

  For example, in a micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) or the like, a technique for forming a fine structure made of various materials is required. As such materials, semiconductor materials such as Si and various metal materials are known. Biodegradable plastics are plastic materials that are degraded by fungi that exist in nature, and it may be desirable to use such materials, for example, in MEMS devices used in the human body. That is, the application range of the MEMS device is further expanded by using the biodegradable plastic as the material of the MEMS device. It is also clear that it is preferable to use such a biodegradable plastic as a material for a MEMS device from the viewpoint of suppressing environmental pollution.

  Examples of the biodegradable plastic material include polymer materials such as poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), poly-D-lactic acid (PDLA), polybutylene succinate-adbate polymer (PBSA), and polycaprolactone (PCL). Are known. When manufacturing a MEMS device, it is necessary to form a fine structure made of such a material, for example, a mechanical part such as a fine gear, with an accuracy of about several μm or less.

  When forming such a structure with a metal or the like, a LIGA process using a photoresist pattern and plating is used, whereas it is difficult to form a polymer material by a method similar to plating. Similar processes are not applicable. For this reason, in order to form the same fine structure with a polymer material, it is necessary to perform etching processing of these materials into a desired shape. Here, in order to perform fine processing of such a material, a technique of dry etching processing is particularly required.

  As dry etching processing, plasma etching, focused ion beam (FIB) processing, and the like are known. In particular, when a FIB capable of obtaining a desired shape without a mask is manufactured, a MEMS device or the like is manufactured. Is preferred. However, when performing FIB processing, the temperature of the sample rises locally with ion irradiation. On the other hand, polymer materials generally have low heat resistance due to their low glass transition point and melting point, and there is a problem that deformation occurs due to this heat. This also applies to plasma etching. In general, since such a polymer material is also insulative, when an ion beam is used, a charged sample is charged up due to ion irradiation, and the ion beam is not properly irradiated, and stable and uniform etching is performed. There is also the problem of difficulty.

  Patent Document 1 describes a method of processing a polymer material that improves these points. Here, processing using FIB, which is a polymer material, is mainly used to obtain a flaky sample to be an observation sample of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or a transmission electron microscope (TEM: Transmission Electron Microscope). A method is described. In this technique, when performing FIB processing, a groove for reducing the influence of heat at a location to be a sample is formed outside a region to be a sample, and then the actual sample is processed. Moreover, the problem of charge-up can be solved by irradiating the conductive gas during the groove processing.

  Using such a technique, a microstructure of a polymer material, particularly a sample for observation of SEM or TEM, can be prepared using FIB processing.

JP 2009-162666 A

  However, the shape of the SEM or TEM observation sample and the MEMS device or the MEMS device component are greatly different. Although the sample for observation of SEM and TEM is a simple flake shape, the component for MEMS devices is a complicated shape like a gear, for example. Therefore, it is not always possible to form grooves that can reduce the influence of heat on the parts that become these parts, and it is difficult to simply apply the technique described in Patent Document 1. As for charge-up, in addition to the technique described in Patent Document 1, there is a method of processing while preventing charge-up with a neutralizing gun (electronic shower). However, in the case of a polymer material, in this case, a radiation chemical reaction is induced by electron irradiation, causing a decomposition / crosslinking reaction, and the workability and material properties are changed.

  Furthermore, the heat resistance of the above-described biodegradable plastic is particularly low among plastic materials. For example, the glass transition point of PLLA is about 60 ° C. or less, and the resulting heat softening point is 52 to 55 ° C. is there. For this reason, the influence of thermal deformation during processing is particularly large.

  That is, it has been difficult to obtain a fine structure made of a polymer material having low heat resistance and high insulation.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide an invention that solves the above problems.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configurations.
The method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material according to the present invention is a method for forming a structure made of an insulating polymer material, wherein the polymer material has a thickness of 1 μm or less on a conductive substrate. A thin film layer forming step for forming the thin film layer, and etching the thin film layer by irradiating the thin film layer with a focused ion beam at a current of 1 nA or less in a vacuum to obtain the structure. And a processing step.
The method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the thin film formation step, the thin film layer is formed by spin-coating a coating liquid in which the polymer material and a solvent are mixed on the substrate. And
In the method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material according to the present invention, the polymer material mainly includes any one of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polybutylene succinate-adbate polymer (PBSA). It is characterized by being a component.
The microstructure of the present invention is characterized in that the polymer material is manufactured by the microstructure forming method of the polymer material.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, a fine structure made of a polymer material having low heat resistance can be obtained.

It is a flowchart which shows the fine structure formation method of the polymeric material used as embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the form in the case of FIB processing in the fine structure formation method of the polymeric material used as embodiment of this invention. It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 1st comparative example using PLLA (H). It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 2nd comparative example using PLLA (S). It is the result of measuring the relationship between the etching depth and the fluence in the first and second comparative examples. It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 3rd comparative example using PLLA (H). It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 4th comparative example using PLLA (S). It is the result of measuring the relationship between the etching depth and the fluence in the third and fourth comparative examples. It is an AFM photograph after processing in the 1st example of the present invention using PLLA (H). It is an AFM photograph after processing in the 2nd example of the present invention using PLLA (S). It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 5th comparative example using PCL. It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 3rd example of the present invention using PCL. It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 6th comparative example using PBSA. It is a SEM photograph of the surface after processing in the 4th example of the present invention using PBSA.

  Hereinafter, a method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, a case where poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), which is a biodegradable plastic material, is used as the polymer material will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart of this fine structure forming method. First, a thin film layer of PLLA is formed (thin film forming step). Thereafter, FIB processing is performed on the PLLA thin film layer (processing step).

  In the thin film forming step, first, a coating solution in which PLLA is dissolved in a solvent and diluted is prepared (coating solution preparation: S1). As the solvent, for example, chloroform can be used, and the concentration of PLLA can be, for example, about 1% by weight.

  Next, this coating solution is spin-coated on the substrate (rotary coating: S2). The substrate is preferably a conductive substrate that can be introduced into the sample chamber of the FIB apparatus. For example, a 4-inch diameter conductive silicon substrate is preferably used. The spin coating can be performed using a normal spin coater, and the spin speed can be set to about 3000 rpm, for example. Thereafter, by performing a drying process, the solvent is volatilized and a thin film of PLLA can be obtained on the substrate. The film thickness of PLLA can be set as appropriate by controlling the coating solution concentration (viscosity) and the coating rotation speed, and can be 1 μm or less. Moreover, it is also possible to perform a surface treatment for improving the wettability with respect to the coating solution on the substrate surface before coating. Further, in order to sufficiently evaporate the solvent component in PLLA and cure the PLLA to improve the adhesion to the substrate, a baking process at a temperature lower than the glass transition point of PLLA may be performed after the drying process.

Next, the focused ion beam is irradiated to the PLLA thin film on the substrate using the FIB apparatus (processing step: S3). FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a form at this time. The sample in which the PLLA thin film layer 12 is formed on the substrate 11 is placed on the stage 22 in the sample chamber 21 in the FIB apparatus 20. The sample chamber 21 is evacuated by an evacuation system (not shown), and is maintained at a degree of vacuum of about 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa or less during ion beam irradiation. The FIB apparatus 20 is the same as that described in Patent Document 1, and a controlled ion beam 23 is irradiated to a desired location from the ion beam irradiation mechanism 24 with respect to the sample placed in the sample chamber 21. Is done. The size (expansion) of the ion beam 23 can be controlled by a combination of a diaphragm (aperture) in the ion beam irradiation mechanism 24, a condenser lens for ion focusing, and an objective lens. The beam diameter of can be set to 23 nmφ, for example. The ion beam 23 is raster scanned or vector scanned so as to draw a desired shape on the surface of the sample (PLLA thin film layer 12). At this time, the beam current value can be 1 nA or less. Raster scanning and vector scanning can be arbitrarily controlled by a scanning electrode in the ion beam irradiation mechanism 24. Further, the region to be irradiated can be set by controlling the position (XY coordinate) of the stage 22 and the scan area of the ion beam irradiation.

In FIB processing, since the sample is sputter-etched, an ion species with high sputtering efficiency is used as the ion species, for example, Ga ⁺ or the like. The fluence (irradiation amount) with respect to the sample corresponds to the depth to be etched, and can be controlled within a possible processing range, but can be, for example, about 10 ¹⁸ ions / cm ² .

  Here, the thickness of the PLLA thin film layer 12 is set to be 1 μm or less, and the ion beam current is set to be 1 nA or less. By setting these within this range, fine processing of the PLLA thin film layer 12 can be performed with high accuracy. If the PLLA thin film layer 12 is thicker than this, the processing accuracy is lowered because deformation of the PLLA and non-uniform etching occur due to heat generation and charge-up during FIB processing. When the current value of the ion beam is larger than this, re-deposits at the time of etching are formed on the surface of the PLLA thin film layer 12, and it becomes difficult to obtain a desired shape.

  Hereinafter, a result of comparison between the conventional microstructure forming method and the microstructure forming method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, as first and second comparative examples, hard PLLA (H) (trade name: LACEA H100, weight molecular weight 90000, glass transition point about 55 ° C., melting point about 160 ° C., manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals) and hard PLLA (S ) (Product name: Eco-Plastic S-12 Weight molecular weight 112000, Glass transition point 57 ° C Melting point 165 ° C Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.) The results of processing using SMI-2050) with an ion acceleration voltage of Ga ⁺ ions of 30 kV, a beam diameter of 100 nmφ (FWHM), and a beam current of 1.3 nA will be described. In the FIB processing, these sheets were placed on the stage 22.

  3 and 4 are SEM photographs of the surface after processing the first and second comparative examples (PLLA (H) and PLLA (S)) under the above conditions, respectively. Here, a shape in which rectangular concave portions are arranged is formed. In these samples, uniform etching is not performed, and the depth of the recesses is not constant and is not uniform. Further, the surface of the bottom of the recess is rough. Furthermore, particulate reattachment is seen in the area other than the recess.

One of the causes of non-uniform etching is a rise in surface temperature accompanying ion beam irradiation. That is, the surface temperature rose and exceeded the thermal softening point and glass transition point of PLLA, so that the PLLA surface was deformed and roughened. Further, due to the insulating property of PLLA, the sample itself is positively charged by the ion beam irradiation, and the ion beam is not correctly irradiated to a desired portion, so that it is etched unevenly. In this etching, the polymer material constituting PLLA is physically sputter-etched by Ga ⁺ ions. For this reason, PLLA is removed in a particulate form by etching and scattered, and a reattachment adhered to the surface of PLLA is seen.

  FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the etching depth and the fluence obtained in the samples of FIGS. For the reasons described above, the variation in the etching depth is large, and it can be seen that although the etching is possible, it is difficult to control the depth. That is, it is difficult to obtain a PLLA microstructure under these conditions.

  As the third and fourth comparative examples, samples were prepared by irradiating the same material as the first and second comparative examples with ion beams under different conditions. FIG. 6 (third comparative example) and FIG. 7 (fourth comparative example) show the beam current and beam current as a beam diameter of 35 nmφ (FWHM) and a beam current of 188 pA for the same materials as those in FIGS. It is the same SEM photograph at the time of making small. FIG. 8 shows the result of measuring the relationship between the etching depth and the fluence obtained in the samples of FIGS. 6 and 7 in the same manner as in FIG. In these, non-uniformity and redeposition of etching are reduced, and variation in the relationship between the etching depth and fluence in FIG. 8 is small. However, in both FIGS. 6 and 7, for example, etching non-uniformity is still insufficient for performing processing with a processing dimensional accuracy of 1 μm or less. For this reason, it is difficult to form a fine structure under these conditions.

  On the other hand, as an example of the present invention, processing by FIB was performed on PLLA formed by thinning by spin coating on a conductive substrate (silicon substrate). Here, in the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the same PLLA (H) and PLLA (S) as those described above were diluted with chloroform so as to be 1% by weight, and the rotation time was 3000 rpm for 30 seconds. A sample on which spin coating was applied was used. In this case, the thickness of the PLLA thin film layer 12 is 170 to 200 nm, respectively.

In FIB processing, the beam diameter was reduced to 23 nmφ (FWHM) and the beam current was reduced to 48 pA. When the fluence was set to 4 × 10 ¹⁷ ions / cm ² and the pattern was processed in the same manner as in FIGS. 3 and 4, uniform processing without surface roughness and re-adhesion was possible. 9 and 10 are AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) photographs in which a gear for a MEMS device is manufactured under these conditions. Both the first embodiment of the present invention (PLLA (H)) and the second embodiment of the present invention (PLLA (L)) are processed with sufficient processing accuracy even for a gear groove pattern having a width of 1 μm or less. And no reattachment was observed. The processing time for these patterns is about 10 minutes.

  Here, the reason why the non-uniformity and the surface roughness generated in the comparative example are eliminated is as follows. By thinning the PLLA, heat generated on the surface of the PLLA irradiated with ions is quickly conducted to the substrate 11 and radiated. For this reason, the temperature rise of the PLLA surface is suppressed and the recrystallization temperature or melting point of PLLA is not exceeded. The same applies to the charge-up, and positive charges are quickly discharged to the stage 22 side through the conductive substrate 11.

  Further, since the beam current was reduced to 1 nA or less, reattachment was suppressed. This is because the etching rate is reduced by reducing the beam current, and the spatial density of scattered particles that are the source of redeposits is reduced. Therefore, these scattered particles are suppressed from being exhausted before being reattached, or attached to the inner wall of the sample chamber 21 and reattached to the surface of the PLLA thin film layer 12. Even if the etching rate decreases, the time required for actual processing does not increase because PLLA is thinned.

  Thus, by using the above-described fine structure forming method, a fine structure made of PLLA can be formed.

The above-mentioned fine structure forming method is not limited to PLLA, and can be similarly applied to other biodegradable plastic materials. The results of a similar experiment performed on polycaprolactone (PCL) will be described below. In the fifth comparative example, the same processing as FIG. 3 using a sheet of PCL (trade name: Cell Green PH7, molecular weight 75000, glass transition point −60 ° C., melting point about 60 ° C., manufactured by Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd.) is performed. In the third embodiment of the present invention, the above fine structure forming method was applied to PCL (thickness 140 to 160 nm). In the fifth comparative example, the Ga ⁺ ion acceleration voltage was 30 kV, the beam diameter was 100 nmφ (FWHM), and the beam current was 1.3 nA. In the third example, a thin film layer having a thickness of 600 nm was formed by a spin coating method using a coating solution obtained by diluting PCL with 3% by weight of chloroform, the beam diameter was 35 nmφ, and the beam current was 189 pA. FIG. 11 shows an SEM photograph of the surface of the fifth comparative example, and FIG. 12 shows an SEM photograph of the surface of the third embodiment.

  In the fifth comparative example, etching non-uniformity and redeposits are observed, whereas in the third embodiment of the present invention, good processing can be realized. That is, the above-described fine structure forming method is also effective for PCL.

  Similarly, the results of a similar experiment performed on a polybutylene succinate-advate polymer (PBSA) will be described below. In the sixth comparative example, the same processing as in FIG. 3 was performed using a sheet of PBSA (trade name: Bionore # 3001, weight molecular weight 179000, glass transition point −45 ° C., melting point about 95 ° C., Showa Polymer Co., Ltd.). In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the above fine structure forming method was applied to PBSA (thickness 130 to 160 nm). In the sixth comparative example, the Ga ion acceleration voltage was 30 kV, the beam diameter was 100 nmφ (FWHM), and the beam current was 1.3 nA. In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a thin film layer having a thickness of 600 nm is formed by a spin coating method using a coating solution obtained by diluting PBSA with 3% by weight of chloroform, the beam diameter is 35 nmφ (FWHM), the beam The current was 190 pA. A surface photograph of the sixth comparative example is shown in FIG. 13, and a surface photograph of the fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.

  In the sixth comparative example, etching non-uniformity and redeposits are observed, whereas in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, good processing can be realized. That is, the above-mentioned fine structure forming method is also effective for PBSA.

  Thus, the fine structure forming method is effective for a polymer material having low heat resistance. In the first to fourth embodiments described above, an example in which a biodegradable plastic is used as the polymer material having low heat resistance is described. However, the same applies to other polymer materials having low heat resistance and insulating properties. The effect is obtained.

  In addition, in order to form such a polymer material into a thin film on a conductive substrate, the above spin coating method is preferable because it is particularly easy. However, other methods such as chemical vapor deposition and printing are preferred. It is also possible to use technology or the like.

  In the above embodiments, a silicon substrate is used as the substrate. However, any substrate can be used as long as it is conductive and can form a thin film of molecular material on the surface. Further, a material that can easily separate the formed microstructure from the substrate as necessary is preferable.

In the above embodiment, Ga ⁺ is used as the ion species used for the FIB processing. However, since the polymer material is sputter etched in the FIB processing, other ions having high sputter etching efficiency may be used. Is possible. For example, Ar or the like can be used.

11 Substrate 12 PLLA thin film layer 20 FIB apparatus 21 Sample chamber 22 Stage 23 Ion beam 24 Ion beam irradiation mechanism

Claims (4)

A microstructure forming method for forming a structure made of an insulating polymer material,
A thin film forming step of forming a thin film layer made of the polymer material having a thickness of 1 μm or less on a conductive substrate;
A process of obtaining the structure by irradiating the thin film layer with a focused ion beam at a current of 1 nA or less in a vacuum to perform the etching process of the thin film layer;
A method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material, comprising: In the thin film forming step,
2. The method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material according to claim 1, wherein the thin film layer is formed by spin-coating a coating solution obtained by mixing the polymer material and a solvent on the substrate.   The polymer material is mainly composed of any one of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polybutylene succinate / advate polymer (PBSA). A method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material as described in 1.   A microstructure manufactured by the method for forming a microstructure of a polymer material according to any one of claims 1 to 3.