Lectures on

MEMS and MICROSYSTEMS DESIGN and MANUFACTURE

Chapter 3
Engineering Science for
Microsystems Design and Fabrication

In this Chapter, we will present overviews of the principles of physical and

chemical processes that are used in fabricating MEMS and microsystems
components.

Design engineers must have good knowledge in micro fabrication processes

for successful design of these products.

HSU 2008
 Chapter content

Atomic structure of matter

Ions and ionization

Molecular theory of matter and intermolecular forces

Doping of semiconductors

Diffusion process

Plasma physics

Electrochemistry
 Atomic Structure of Matter

Basic atomic structure

NUCLEUS

Proton ● Protons carry +ve charge

● Electrons carry –ve charge
Electron Neutron
● Neutrons carry no charge

No. of protons = No. of electrons

Orbit for electrons

● Nucleus contains protons and neutrons

NOTE: There is no neutron in the nucleus of H2 atoms.

● The diameter of outer orbit: 2 to 3x10-8 cm, or 0.2 to 0.3 nm.

● Mass of protons: 1.67x10-24 g

● Mass of electrons: 9.11x10-28 g

 Atomic Structure of Matter-Cont’d

The periodic table of elements

Every thing on the Earth is made by 96 stable and 12 unstable elements.

Atomic Number =
No. of protons in nucleus

Group III to VIII

elements
B
Si P
Ga Ge As
 Ions and Ionization

What is an ion?

An ion is an electrically charged atom or molecule.

+ve charged ions = atoms with more protons than electrons.

-ve charged ions = atoms with more electrons than protons.

Ionization = The process of producing ions.

Schematic diagram of ionization by electron beams:

Electrode
Anode Beam Guides
High Voltage
Supply

Energy supply: Electron

Ionization Ion Beam
Heater Released Electrons Accelerator Beam
Chamber

Electron Gun
Cathode Medium to be ionized:
e.g. H2 or He gas jet
 Molecular Theory of Matter

● All matters are made of large number of “particles” interconnected by

deformable bonds.

● These “particles” are called molecules.

● By nature, some molecules are made by single atoms and some others
involve multiple kinds of atoms.

Single atom molecule (silicon) Bi-atom molecules (water)

Chemical 2H 2H
Si Si bonds +O +O
Si 2H
2H +O
Si Si 2H
+O +O
Inter-molecular Forces
● The fact that molecular bonds are deformable indicates the existence
of forces between molecules in a matter.

● These inter-molecular forces can be “attractions” or “repulsions”-

determined by the distances between the molecules.

● Inter-molecular forces are often referred to as van der Waals forces.

Attraction force

do = molecular space in nature state

do

Inter-molecular distance,d
Repulsion force
 Doping of Semiconductors
● The process “doping” is a key process for producing transistors in
microelectronics industry.
● Semiconducting materials are characterized by their electrical resistivity to be
between electrically conductive and electrically insulators (or dielectric).
● They can be made electrically conductive by proper “doping” processes.
● Three classes of electrically conducting materials are:
Materials Approximate Electrical Classifications
Resistivity, ρ (Ω-cm)
Silver (Ag) 10-6 Conductors
Copper (Cu) 10-5.8
Aluminum (Al) 10-5.5
Platinum (Pt) 10-5
Germanium (GE) 101.5 Semiconductors
Silicon (Si) 104.5
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) 108.0
Gallium Phosphide (GaP) 106.5
Oxide 109 Insulators
Glass 1010.5
Nickel (pure) 1013
Diamond 1014
Quartz (fused) 1018
 Doping of Semiconductors-Cont’d

● Doping for common semiconductor, e.g. silicon (Si) involves adding atoms
with different number of electrons to create unbalanced number of electrons
in the base material (e.g. Si)

● The base material, after doping, with excessive electrons will carry –ve charge.
● The base material, after doping, with deficit in electron will carry +ve charge.

● Doping of silicon can be achieved by “ion implantation” or “diffusion” of

Boron (B) atom for +ve charge or of Arsenide (As) or Phosphorous (P) for
–ve charge.

Si Hole Si Extra Electron

Si B Si Si As Si

Si Si

P-type doping N-type doping

 Doping of Semiconductors-Cont’d
Doping strength It is determined by the concentration of atoms in the
Dopants. Example for doping of silicon:

Carrier concentration, atoms/cm3

Resistivity of doped Si, Ω-cm

 Diffusion Process

Diffusion process = Introducing a controlled amount of foreign material

into selected regions of another material.

Diffusion processes may take place in:

Gas – gas (e.g. gas mixing and air pollution)

Liquid – liquid (e.g. spread of drop of ink in a pot of clear water)
Gas – solids (e.g. oxidation of metal)
Liquid – solids (e.g. corrosion of metal in water)

Three major applications of diffusion in microfabrication

- a very important process:

● Doping of semiconducting materials to produce p-n junctions

and the production of piezoresistors.
● Oxidation of semiconducting materials.
● Chemical vapor deposition processes.
 Diffusion Process-Cont’d

Mathematical modeling by Fick’s law:

A diffusion of liquid A into liquid B: For the case C1>C2:

Liquid A, Concentration, C1 C a , xo − C a , x ∆C
Ca ∝ =−
x xo − x ∆x
Liquid B
Concentration, C2 Ca = Concentration of A at a distance x away
from the initial contacting surface/m2-s
Xo = position of the initial interface of A and B.
Ca,xo, Cax = respective concentrations of A at xo and x.

x
The above expression may be expressed in a different form of equation:
∆C
Ca = − D
∆x
in which D = diffusivity of A into B - a material constant for specific pair of materials
in the process.
The value of D usually increases with temperature →higher efficiency at
elevated temperature
 Diffusion Process-Cont’d
Solid-solid diffusion e.g. in doping of silicon with B or As or P
Let J = the atoms (or molecules) of the foreign materials (B, As or P)
to be diffused into base substrate material (e.g. Si) can be computed by:
∂C
J = −D atoms/m2-s
∂x
where D = diffusivity, or diffusion coefficient of the foreign material
in the substrate material, m2/s.
C = concentration of the foreign material in the substrate, atoms/m3.
Diffusivity of Selected Materials
10
10

D , µm / h Aℓ
1.01 Ga
Diffusion Coefficient

rP
Bo

0.1 As
0.1

0.01
0.01

900
900
950
950
1000
1000
1050
1050
1100
1100
1150
1150
1200
1200
1250
1250
Temperature, C o
Temperature, C
 Diffusion Process-Cont’d

Solid Solubility

The theory of “Higher temperature→ Higher diffusion efficiency” does not

always hold for solid-solid diffusion.

The “solubility” diagram below indicates, for example the temperatures at

which maximum diffusion can take place are:

≈ 1220oC for As (-ve Si)

≈ 1350oC for B (+ve si)
≈ 1230oC for P (-ve Si) in doping silicon substrates
Phosphorus Boron Arsenic

Aarsenic
12
Solid Solubility
(10 atoms/cm )
3

10

8 Boron

6
20

4 Phosphrus
2
800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
o
Temperature ( C)
 Diffusion Process-Cont’d

The Diffusion Equation

This equation is used to predict the concentration of the foreign material (e.g.
B) in the substrate (e.g. Si) at given depth and time in a one-dimensional
diffusion process.
Foreign material
with concentration, Cs
Mask with opening ∂C ( x, t ) ∂ C ( x, t )
2
Hot substrate material =D
∂t ∂ x2
with the following conditions:
Diffused material
with concentration, C(x,t) C(x,0) = 0; C(0, t) =Cs; C(∞,t) = 0
X-direction of diffusion
The solution of the partial differential equation satisfying the specific
conditions is:
⎛ x ⎞
C ( x, t ) = C s erfc⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ 2 Dt ⎠
where erfc(X) is the complementary error function, erfc(X) = 1-erf(X) in which erf(X)
Is the error function with values available from mathematical handbooks.
 Diffusion Process-Cont’d

The Error functions

X erf(X) X erf(X) X erf(X) X erf(X)

0.0 0.0

0.05 0.0564 0.55 0.5633 1.05 0.8624 1.55 0.9716

0.10 0.1125 0.60 0.6039 1.10 0.8802 1.60 0.9763

0.15 0.1680 0.65 0.6420 1.15 0.8961 1.65 0.9804

0.20 0.2227 0.70 0.6778 1.20 0.9103 1.70 0.9838

0.25 0.2763 0.75 0.7112 1.25 0.9229 1.75 0.9867

0.30 0.3286 0.80 0.7421 1.30 0.9340 1.80 0.9891

0.35 0.3794 0.85 0.7707 1.35 0.9438 1.85 0.9911

0.40 0.4284 0.90 0.7969 1.40 0.9523 1.90 0.9923

0.45 0.4755 0.95 0.8209 1.45 0.9597 1.95 0.9942

0.50 0.5205 1.00 0.8427 1.50 0.9661 2.00 0.9953

Example: erf(1.25) = 0.9229

 Plasma Physics
Plasma
● It is a gas containing high energy ions that carries electronic charges.

● Plasma is used to “knock out” substrate materials at desired localities

- in a “dry etching process”, or is used to carry chemicals in chemical
vapor deposition (CVD) process.
Production of plasma

by high electric voltage: by high energy RF:

Gas to be ionized
Gas to be ionized • Ionization
• Ionization • Dissociation
• Dissociation • Excitation
• Recombination
• Excitation RF
• Recombination Vacuum at 10-3-1 Torr
Vacuum at 10-3-1 Torr
Anode Cathode
Anode Cathode Plasma Potential
Plasma Potential
 Electrochemistry

There are two principal applications of electrochemistry in microfabrication:

● Electrolysis in electroplating of polymers, and

● Electrohydrodynamics for pumping fluids in micro fluidics.

Electrolysis

It is the process that produces chemical changes in a chemical compound

by oppositely charged constituents moving in opposite direction toward
the electrodes under an electric potential difference.

The desired element (or chemical) from the chemical compound can thus be
Isolated and collected at the electrodes.
 Electrochemistry-Cont’d

Example of electrolysis

Production of sodium (Na) from chemical compound NaCl.

Chemical reaction: 2NaCl → 2Na+ + Cl2-

+ve charged Na ions move towards the –ve electrode (cathode)
-ve charged Cl ions move towards the +ve electrode (anode)
dc-source
Flow of electrons, e-

Anode Cathode

Molten NaCl

+ 2NaCl→2Na+ + Cl2- -
Cl- Na+
 Electrohydrodynamics
The principle of moving fluids in micro channels or passages is similar to
electrolysis, i.e. by “ionizing” the fluid first using electric potential. The
ionized fluid will move in the direction of the preferred electrodes
- achieving the pumping effect.

Electro-osmotic pumping - Moving the entire fluid in micro passages.

- V + ● Fluid near the tube wall is ionized

into +ve ion (cations) and –ve ions
Glass tube wall with polymer coating (anions).

● the special polymer coating on the

tube wall “immobilize” the local anions.

Drag Effect ● The free cations will move towards

Mobile Cations + the –ve electrode.
+

Immobile Anions - - ● The moving cations carry the neutral

Glass fluid and result in motion.
Electrophoretic pumping
- Move various species in fluid (e.g. biological samples) through micro channels.

● The heterogeneous fluid is ionized.

- V +
● The ions of contained species have
their own respective “electro osmotic
mobility”.

● Distinct “electro-osmotic mobility” of the

species make them moving at different 2+
velocities under the influence of the +
applied electric field.
-
● Separation of species in micro samples 2-
thus be achieved by the difference in
velocities in motion.

Electrophoretic pumping is widely used in biomedical and pharmaceutical

Industries. It is usually used in conjunction with electro-osmotic pumping.
End of Chapter 3