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    Liftoff Techniques

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    Swarnava Sanyal
    This document discusses three techniques for lift-off lithography: 1) Toluene soak before development to harden the resist surface and allow an undercut profile. 2) Using a negative tone resist which provides a retrograde profile better for lift-off. 3) A bi-layer method using two different resists layered which allows precise patterning and undercutting of the bottom resist for a high quality lift-off profile.

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    Liftoff Techniques

    Uploaded by

    Swarnava Sanyal
    263 views4 pages
    This document discusses three techniques for lift-off lithography: 1) Toluene soak before development to harden the resist surface and allow an undercut profile. 2) Using a negative tone resist which provides a retrograde profile better for lift-off. 3) A bi-layer method using two different resists layered which allows precise patterning and undercutting of the bottom resist for a high quality lift-off profile.

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    This document discusses three techniques for lift-off lithography: 1) Toluene soak before development to harden the resist surface and allow an undercut profile. 2) Using a negative tone resist which provides a retrograde profile better for lift-off. 3) A bi-layer method using two different resists layered which allows precise patterning and undercutting of the bottom resist for a high quality lift-off profile.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    263 views4 pages

    Liftoff Techniques

    Uploaded by

    Swarnava Sanyal
    This document discusses three techniques for lift-off lithography: 1) Toluene soak before development to harden the resist surface and allow an undercut profile. 2) Using a negative tone resist which provides a retrograde profile better for lift-off. 3) A bi-layer method using two different resists layered which allows precise patterning and undercutting of the bottom resist for a high quality lift-off profile.

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    Lift-Off Techniques

    Lift-off refers to the process of exposing a pattern into photoresist (or some other material),
    depositing a thin film (such as a metal or dielectric) over the entire area, then washing away
    the photoresist (or other material) to leave behind the film only in the patterned area.

    The following process sequence illustrates the problem with using a positive tone
    photoresist alone for lift-off:

    vapor deposition with angular distribution (All methods have some angular distribution)

    Good vertical resist profile

    PR PR

    Substrate

    Film Covers All PR edges (No where for solvent to remove PR)

    PR PR Bad Lift-Off
    Ultrasonic
    Substrate Agitation can
    help, but not
    enough in
    The following slides illustrate solutions to this problem. general
    Lift-Off Techniques
    Method #1 (Toluene Soak) : Before developing the photoresist, after exposure, you can soak
    the sample in Toluene for 5 minutes. This creates a hardened layer in the photoresist surface
    that resists developing. A deep UV exposure can also lead to this effect.

    Once hardened, you can develop the resist with a slightly longer than normal time. The
    following profile is obtained:

    Lip Formed By Soak

    PR PR

    Substrate

    Film Can Still have “wings” at edges


    due to resist wall coverage
    Lift-Off
    PR PR

    Substrate Substrate
    Lift-Off Techniques
    Method #2 (Negative/Image Reversal Resist) : By using a negative resist and adjusting the
    exposure and develop time, one can obtain a retrograde profile. This is much better for lift-
    off than positive resist which gives a straight or slightly graded profile. Remember, with a
    negative resist, less exposure means more developer attack which means more undercut.

    Exposure Exposure

    Dose
    Less Develop
    PR More Develop

    Substrate
    Distance

    Develop

    PR PR
    Substrate

    Film Clean Lift-off. Can lift-off ~ 1/2 to


    2/3 of resist thickness.
    Lift-Off
    PR PR
    Substrate Substrate
    Lift-Off Techniques
    Method #3 (Bi-layer method) : By using a two different types of resist on top of each other,
    one can precisely pattern the top resist and then undercut the bottom resist to form a very
    nice lift-off profile. You must use resists with different solvents/chemistries to avoid
    intermixing which will make the process inconsistent. PMGI, Shipley LOL, and LOR series
    resists work well as underlayers for i-line and broad-band lithography. With PMGI, the resist
    serves as a mask for DUV (250nm) exposure and development of the PMGI. The Shipley LOL
    and the LOR resists use bake temperature to control undercut rate using standard resist
    developers. The top layer can be positive or negative tone and you can lift-off up to ~2/3 of
    the bottom layer thickness. This process allows for very clean lift-off using positive tone
    resist. Lift-off is performed in resist strippers.
    Film

    PR PR
    Underlayer Underlayer
    Substrate
    Clean Lift-off. Can lift-off ~ 1/2 to
    2/3 of resist thickness.
    Lift-Off

    Substrate

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