Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P50/00—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices
  • H10P50/20—Dry etching; Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching
  • H10P50/24—Dry etching; Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching of semiconductor materials
  • H10P50/242—Dry etching; Plasma etching; Reactive-ion etching of semiconductor materials of Group IV materials
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P76/00—Manufacture or treatment of masks on semiconductor bodies, e.g. by lithography or photolithography
  • H10P76/40—Manufacture or treatment of masks on semiconductor bodies, e.g. by lithography or photolithography of masks comprising inorganic materials
  • H10P76/408—Manufacture or treatment of masks on semiconductor bodies, e.g. by lithography or photolithography of masks comprising inorganic materials characterised by their sizes, orientations, dispositions, behaviours or shapes
  • H10P76/4085—Manufacture or treatment of masks on semiconductor bodies, e.g. by lithography or photolithography of masks comprising inorganic materials characterised by their sizes, orientations, dispositions, behaviours or shapes characterised by the processes involved to create the masks
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B3/00—Simple or compound lenses
  • G02B3/0006—Arrays
  • G02B3/0012—Arrays characterised by the manufacturing method
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F1/00—Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
  • G03F1/68—Preparation processes not covered by groups G03F1/20 - G03F1/50
  • G03F1/80—Etching
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/0005—Production of optical devices or components in so far as characterised by the lithographic processes or materials used therefor
  • G03F7/001—Phase modulating patterns, e.g. refractive index patterns
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/004—Photosensitive materials
  • G03F7/0041—Photosensitive materials providing an etching agent upon exposure
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/26—Processing photosensitive materials; Apparatus therefor
  • G03F7/40—Treatment after imagewise removal, e.g. baking
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P50/00—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices
  • H10P50/69—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices using masks for semiconductor materials
  • H10P50/691—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices using masks for semiconductor materials for Group V materials or Group III-V materials
  • H10P50/692—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices using masks for semiconductor materials for Group V materials or Group III-V materials characterised by their composition, e.g. multilayer masks or materials
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10P—GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H10P50/00—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices
  • H10P50/73—Etching of wafers, substrates or parts of devices using masks for insulating materials
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B3/00—Simple or compound lenses
  • G02B3/0006—Arrays
  • G02B3/0012—Arrays characterised by the manufacturing method
  • G02B3/0018—Reflow, i.e. characterized by the step of melting microstructures to form curved surfaces, e.g. manufacturing of moulds and surfaces for transfer etching
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G02—OPTICS
  • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
  • G02B3/00—Simple or compound lenses
  • G02B3/0006—Arrays
  • G02B3/0037—Arrays characterized by the distribution or form of lenses
  • G02B3/0056—Arrays characterized by the distribution or form of lenses arranged along two different directions in a plane, e.g. honeycomb arrangement of lenses

Definitions

• the current invention relates to the production of three dimensional structures on a substrate by Reactive-Ion Etching. It can be applied to materials such as semiconductor, glass, polyimide or any other which can be etched using a reactive ion plasma.
• Three dimensional semiconductor structures are required for optical confinement (for example in visible/infrared lenses, emitters or detectors) and electromagnetic confinement (eg microwave inductors, detectors or sources).
• optical confinement for example in visible/infrared lenses, emitters or detectors
• electromagnetic confinement eg microwave inductors, detectors or sources.
• Hutley et. al. teach the formation of small discs of photoresist which, on heating to melt, are drawn into the shape of small lenses by surface tension. (Physics World, July 1991 pp27-32).
• Liau et. al. teach the formation of a stepped structure by repeated applications of photolithography and bromine-methanol etching. Mass transport within this structure to form a lens shape is then effected, again by heating to melt (see Appl. Phys. Lett. 55 (2) 10 July 1989; The Lincoln Laboratory Journal, Volume 3, Number 3, 1990).
• microlens arrays are detailed in "Micro-optics has macro potential” Laser Focus World June, 1991. Methods which involve reactive ion etching typically involve repeated applications of photoresist and etch runs. This makes the fabrication process cumbersome.
• a method of producing or modifying a three dimensional surface profile on a substrate comprises the steps of
• each iteration comprises at least one resist etch and at least one substrate etch
• the resist etch being carried out using a suitable resist etchant, which modifies the shape of the mask and hence the area of substrate exposed
• the substrate etch being carried out using a suitable substrate etchant from which the mask affords protection of the substrate, and which removes material from the areas of substrate which are exposed.
• an optical concentrator is formed on the substrate.
• the substrate comprises a semiconductor material.
• the substrate comprises InSb.
• the substrate etchant comprises a CH 4 /H 2 plasma.
• the resist etchant comprises an oxygen plasma.
• a Winston cone is formed in InSb heterostructure material.
• a dome or button of photolithographic masking resist 1 is applied to a semiconductor substrate 2.
• This may be formed by, for example, greyscale lithography (see UK patent application 9310013.9) or resist-reflow methods.
• the substrate is then etched using a substrate etchant from which the resist 1 affords protection so that material is removed from areas 3 on the substrate 2. This gives rise to the structure shown in figure lb.
• the area covered by resist 1 is then reduced, using a suitable resist etchant, so that further areas 4 of substrate 2 are exposed.
• Detailed three-dimensional structures can be formed by controlling the rate and time for each of the etching steps.
• the final resolution of the profile is dependent on the number of alternate substrate and resist etch steps over a given structure height.
• microlenses shown therein were fabricated using a Surface Technology Systems (STS) Reactive Ion Etching Machine, Model 340PC, and the following etch conditions:
• Resist Etch conditions Gas: O 2 , flow rate 80 standard cubic centimetres per minute(sccm);
• Chamber Pressure 60 mTorr
• Chamber Pressure 90 mTorr
• the substrate (InSb) was coated with 12 x 10 '6 m of AZ4562 resist and was processed into straight sided cones using greyscale technology and Ion beam milling. (Other methods of effecting this part of the process will be apparent to those skilled in the art).
• the sample was then resist etched using the above resist etch conditions for 5 minutes. This was followed by a 5 minute InSb etch using the above substrate-etch conditions and then another 5 minute resist etch. Four iterations of 5 minute InSb etching and 2 minute resist etching were then performed to obtain the structure shown in figure 2a.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Drying Of Semiconductors (AREA)
• ing And Chemical Polishing (AREA)
• Photosensitive Polymer And Photoresist Processing (AREA)
• Pharmaceuticals Containing Other Organic And Inorganic Compounds (AREA)
• Saccharide Compounds (AREA)
• Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Cited By (1)

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Citations (3)

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• 1996
  • 1996-01-10 GB GBGB9600469.2A patent/GB9600469D0/en active Pending
• 1997
  • 1997-01-09 AU AU13884/97A patent/AU1388497A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1997-01-09 KR KR1019980705256A patent/KR19990077120A/ko active Granted
  • 1997-01-09 CN CNB971927529A patent/CN1135438C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-01-09 JP JP52497697A patent/JP3965213B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-01-09 CA CA002242634A patent/CA2242634C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-01-09 PL PL327667A patent/PL194893B1/pl not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1997-01-09 US US09/101,306 patent/US6682657B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-01-09 DE DE69740180T patent/DE69740180D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1997-01-09 EP EP97900295A patent/EP0873542B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1997-01-09 AT AT97900295T patent/ATE507496T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1997-01-09 GB GB9813813A patent/GB2322833B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-01-09 WO PCT/GB1997/000043 patent/WO1997025653A1/en not_active Ceased

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Non-Patent Citations (2)

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