Abstract
We report our study on several de-tethering methods for various high aspect ratio metallic and polymeric MEMS and NEMS parts including 5:1 aspect ratio 50 μm thick metallic (nickel) MEMS parts, 3:1 aspect ratio 1 μm thick sub-micron (350 nm) feature size metallic NEMS actuators, and 10:1 aspect ratio 100 μm thick polymer/metal bi-layer MEMS actuators. Resistive heating was found to be effective for the de-tethering of high aspect ratio metallic MEMS parts. In order to de-tether metallic NEMS parts and polymer/metal bi-layer devices, we performed the milling of tethers using a focused ion beam. Very low current (20 pA) ion beam was found to be effective means of de-tethering the metallic NEMS parts. Relatively larger current (0.3–20 nA) ion beam was found to be good for the polymer/metal bi-layer parts. We demonstrated 3D assembly and complete packaging of the de-tethered high aspect ratio metallic and metal/polymer bilayer MEMS parts.
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Acknowledgments
This work was performed under the support of National Institute of Standards and Technology, Advanced Technology Program, Cooperative Agreement Number 70NANB1H3021. Removal of the cross-linked thick SU-8 for the metallic MEMS devices was carried out by TePla 300 microwave plasma etch system (TePla America, Inc., Hurst, TX). We appreciate TePla’s support on the equipment and the process.
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Colinjivadi, K.S., Cui, Y., Ellis, M. et al. De-tethering of high aspect ratio metallic and polymeric MEMS/NEMS parts for the direct pick-and-place assembly of 3D microsystem. Microsyst Technol 14, 1621–1626 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-008-0579-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-008-0579-2