A step-and-repeat UV-nanoimprint lithography process using an elementwise patterned stamp

Ultraviolet-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) is a promising cost-effective method for defining nanoscale structures at room temperature and low pressure. To apply a large-area stamp to a high throughput step-and-repeat process at atmospheric conditions, we proposed a new UV-NIL process that uses an elementwise patterned stamp (EPS), which consists of elements separated by channels, and additive gas pressurization. The proposed UV-NIL process required just four imprints to press an 8-in. wafer. EPS features measuring 50-80 nm were successfully transferred onto the wafers. The experiments demonstrated that a 5 × 5-in.² EPS could be used with a step-and-repeat UV-NIL process to imprint 8-in. wafers under atmospheric conditions.     

Fabrication of a two-step Ni stamp for blind via hole application on PWB

This study examined imprint lithography with a two-step Ni stamp to solve the laser process problems and simultaneously form a blind via and layer pattern. The Ni stamp was fabricated by electroplating on a dry-etched Si mold, made from a SOI (silicon on insulator) wafer, and pattern replication. For the pattern transfer of the Ni stamp, hot embossing was performed on SU8-coated BT and Si wafer substrates. The residual layer was of a uniform thickness with an embossed shape of acceptable squareness.     

Large area nanosize array stamp for UV-based nanoimprint lithography fabricated by size reduction process

A novel size reduction process using electron beam lithography (EBL) combining with wet etching technique is developed as a possible solution for producing large area and low cost nanopattern stamp for UV-based nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL). In the first step, a microstructure stamp with 1.4 μm periodical pore array and aspect ratio of 1:1 was formed over a 1 inch² area on a quartz substrate. This process was carried out using common electron beam lithography (EBL) equipment, which was easily available in the modern integrated circuits (IC) semiconductor factory. Afterwards, with a controlled wet etching technique, the pore array was changed into tip patterns with the line width below 100 nm and the period keeping as before. The uniformities and nanopattern accuracies were investigated to identify its possibility as a UV-NIL stamp by AFM and SEM. Finally, as a demonstration, the as obtained stamp was used as a positive stamp to replicate the nanotips into UV-curable resist successfully by a UV-NIL process. The method developed for the mold of nanoimprint lithography would be a simple and low price approach to fabricate large area UV-NIL stamp and the nanotip array structures would be widely used in two dimensional (2D) photonic crystal application.     

A mathematical model for slip phenomenon in a cavity-filling process of nanoimprint lithography

Squeeze flow theory has been used as an effective tool to clarify how and which process conditions determine cavity-filling behavior in nanoimprint lithography (NIL). Conventional squeeze flow models used in NIL research fields have assumed no-slip conditions at the solid-to-liquid boundaries, that is, at the stamp-to-polymer or polymer-to-substrate boundaries. The no-slip assumptions are often violated, however, in micrometer- to nanometer-scale fluid flow. It is therefore necessary to adopt slip or partial slip boundary conditions. In this paper, an analytical mathematical model for the cavity-filling process of NIL that takes into account slip or partial slip boundary conditions is derived using squeeze flow theory. Velocity profiles, pressure distributions, imprinting forces, and evolutions of residual thickness can be predicted using this analytical model. This paper also aims to elucidate how far the slip phenomenon is able to promote the process rate.     

A novel loading and demoulding process control in UV nanoimprint lithography

In UV nanoimprint lithography (NIL) with elastic mould, a novel multi-step loading and demoulding process, called distortion reduction by pressure releasing (DRPR) and two-step curing method for demoulding, is developed. This novel imprint process is continuous, the pressure releasing method, used to optimize the loading process, can reduce the distortions of imprint mould and wafer stage, while obtain better cavity filling and thin and uniform residual layer; through two-step curing method instead of traditional simple demoulding, the curing degree of resist can be controlled, which is helpful to decrease the demoulding force and avoid residual layer pulled-up while ensure replicated protrusions not collapse. It is a novel and robust process with high fidelity of pattern replication in micro/nano structures fabrication, and the replication error caused by distortions and “blind” demoulding can be reduced effectively.     

Press and release imprint: Control of the flexible mold deformation and the local variation of residual layer thickness in soft UV-NIL

We report on a two step soft UV nanoimprint process termed “Press and Release Imprint (PRI) that enables the reduction of both the mold deformation and the local variation of the residual layer thickness, thereby allowing high fidelity pattern replication with a uniform local residual layer thickness. The effect of imprint pressure on the mold deformation, local variation of residual layer thickness as well as required mold release time has been investigated for microscale patterns in the range of 10-100 μm. The potentials of PRI are demonstrated by high fidelity replication of micro-patterns with a uniform residual layer of minimum thickness.     

空气中烧成镍电极浆料的研究

介绍了空气中烧成的Ni电极浆料的制备。讨论了浆料中玻璃粉、硼粉含量及烧渗工艺等对电极性能的影响。结果表明:浆料中Ni粉的纯度应为99.5%,粒度为500目;w(Ni)应不低于65%;玻璃粉的软化温度为450℃左右;粒度为300目,w(玻璃)为20%左右。加入硼粉系作为抗氧化剂。于810℃的大气中烧渗,保温5 min,此贱金属镍电极可牢固地附着在陶瓷基体上,并具有良好的欧姆接触性能。     

Electroless Ni/Immersion Au interconnects: Investigation of black pad in wire bonds and solder joints

Black Pad was observed on Electroless Ni/Immersion Au (ENIG) wire bond pads. Thick immersion Au on highly corroded electroless Ni was detected. It was determined that the pads were electrically connected to the Cu ground plane due to a Ni bridge formed inside normally open photovias. The mechanism of the bridge formation was verified and preventative actions were taken; it was demonstrated that formation of Black Pad could be switched on and off. The mechanism of Black Pad formation is proposed to be defective ENIG plating involving variation of both the electroless Ni and immersion Au plating processes. The intermetallic structures of solder joints on the above pads were studied. The study was conducted on both defective and non-defective pads to show differences in intermetallic structure and composition. Me₂Sn₄ and Me₂Sn₂ (Me=Cu, Ni, and Au) intermetallics were formed on non-defective pads, which nucleated on the Ni layer and grew inside the molten solder. However, only the Me₃Sn intermetallic was formed on defective pads inside the corroded Ni Layer. Both mechanisms of intermetallic formation were found on pads with mildly corroded Ni and intermediate Au thickness (4.5–7 in).     

SOI谐振式微型电场传感器的新型制作工艺研究

This paper presents a new fabrication process for the SOI-based novel miniature electric field sensor. This new process uses polyimide film to release the SiO₂ layer.Compared with the CO₂ critical point release method,it significantly improves the device surface cleanliness and shortens the process flow.The impurity on the base layer is analyzed.The problem of peak and butterfly-type contamination occurring on the base layer of the SOI wafer during the DRIE process is discussed and solved by thickening the photoresist layer and coating with polyimide film twice.This new process could fabricate MEMS sensors and actuators such as SOI-based electric field sensors,gyroscopes,and micro mirrors and can be an alternative fabrication process compared to commercial SOIMUMPS fabrication processes.     

A novel overlay process for imprint lithography using load release and alignment error pre-compensation method

As a low-cost and high-efficiency alternative to conventional photolithography, imprint lithography has been paid serious attention for it can realize the pattern transfer easily and repeatedly. Even so, there is still a long way to go before this technique can be used to manufacture ICs since the layer-to-layer alignment is a main obstacle. In this paper, the pattern distortion and position shift induced by loading force and friction force are investigated and an optimized process is proposed to realize high precision overlay, in which an optimal loading force and a load release and an alignment error pre-compensation (LRAEPC) method are adopted. The optimal loading force is acquired by comparing the variety trends of the residual layer and position shift with the loading force. Using the optimal loading force, transferred patterns with proper resist thickness and the minimal distortion are achieved. In LRAEPC method, load release is used to correct the pattern distortion and to alleviate the position shift. To avoid subsequent position adjustment in the fluid after load release, the pre-compensation alignment is performed before the mold is in contact with the wafer. This process does not locate correct alignment position and there is an alignment compensation value determined by the statistical data of alignment position shift after load release. Using this pre-compensation alignment method, the correct alignment can be obtained after load release.     

Optimization of process conditions for the formation of hemispherical-grained (HSG) silicon in high-density DRAM capacitor

We have compared the capacitances of a conventional stacked capacitor and hemispherical-grained silicon (HSG-Si), in which the seeding method was applied to storage electrode of 64 Mbit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) through Si₂H₆-molecule irradiation and annealing for HSG-Si formation. Also, we considered the variation of the HSG-Si thickness due to the phosphorus concentration of storage poly-silicon in process condition and the effect of its thickness on the cell capacitance and failure occurrence, etc. We investigated the effect of the deposition temperature of amorphous poly-silicon on the HSG-Si formation. As a result, the optimum process conditions of the phosphorus concentration, the deposition temperature of storage poly-silicon and the HSG thickness in HSG formation are 3.5–4.5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, 530°C and 450 Å, respectively. It is found that the limit thickness of dielectric film of 64 Mbit DRAM capacitor according to the optimized process condition is 65 Å.     

用于紫外探测器的AlGaN/GaN异质结构的Ti/Al/Ni/Au欧姆接触特性

采用Ti/Al/Ni/Au多层金属体系在Al0.27Ga0.73N/GaN异质结构上制备了欧姆接触.分别采用线性传输线方法(LTLM)和圆形传输线方法(CTLM)对其电阻率进行了测试.当Ti(10nm)/Al(100nm)/Ni(40nm)/Au(100nm)金属体系在650℃高纯N2气氛中退火30s时,测量得到的最小比接触电阻率为1.46×10-5Ω·cm2.并制备了Al0.27Ga0.73N/GaN光导型紫外探测器,通过测试发现探测器的暗电流.电压曲线呈线性分布.实验结果表明在Al0.27 Ga0.73N/GaN异质结构上获得了好的欧姆接触,能够满足制备高性能AlGaN/GaN紫外探测器的要求.     

用于紫外探测器的AlGaN/GaN异质结构的Ti/Al/Ni/Au欧姆接触特性

采用Ti/Al/Ni/Au多层金属体系在Al0.27Ga0.73N/GaN异质结构上制备了欧姆接触. 分别采用线性传输线方法(LTLM)和圆形传输线方法(CTLM)对其电阻率进行了测试. 当Ti(10nm)/Al(100nm)/Ni(40nm)/Au(100nm)金属体系在650℃高纯N2气氛中退火30s时,测量得到的最小比接触电阻率为1.46E-5Ω·cm2. 并制备了Al0.27Ga0.73N/GaN光导型紫外探测器,通过测试发现探测器的暗电流-电压曲线呈线性分布. 实验结果表明在Al0.27Ga0.73N/GaN异质结构上获得了好的欧姆接触,能够满足制备高性能AlGaN/GaN紫外探测器的要求.     

A Load-Balancing and Push-Out Scheme for Supporting QoS in MANETs

Currently, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) lack load-balancing capabilities, and thus, they fail to provide good performance especially in the case of a large volume of traffic. Ad hoc networks lack also service differentiation. However, in these wireless environments, where channel conditions are variable and bandwidth is scarce, the differentiated services developed for the Internet are suboptimal without lower layers' support. The IEEE 802.11 standard for Wireless LANs is the most widely used WLAN standard today. It has a mode of operation that can be used to provide service differentiation, but it has been shown to perform badly. In this paper, we present a simple but very effective method for support Quality of Service, by the use of load-balancing and push-out scheme. This approach offers to the mobile node: the ability to alleviate congestion by traffic distribution of excessive load, and to support priority of packets in the single MAC buffer. We evaluate the performance of our algorithm and compare it with the original IEEE 802.11b protocol. Simulation results show that this new approach reduces packet loss rate and increases throughput as well as provides service differentiation in the MAC layer.     

Bubble结构牺牲层腐蚀的一种改进模型

以往的牺牲层腐蚀模型把扩散系数看作是常数,然而,实验结果和以往模型的计算结果在腐蚀开始一段较短的时间内吻合较好,但随着腐蚀时间的变长两者的差异越来越明显.为了解释这一现象并使模型能够较好地预测腐蚀过程,提出了腐蚀模型应该考虑氢氟酸扩散系数是浓度的函数,并在此基础上得到了改进模型.在改进模型中,浓度的下降会引起扩散系数的增大,这部分补偿了腐蚀前端浓度的下降.另外在改进模型中,扩散系数还是温度的函数.实验表明,改进模型与实验结果吻合地较好.这些结果不仅为对牺牲层腐蚀机理的理解提供新的证据,而且也为溶液在bubble结构里面的扩散提供新的证据.文中所观察到的这些现象也适合于其他类型的牺牲层腐蚀,条件是其腐蚀过程是受扩散限制的.     

Bubble结构牺牲层腐蚀的一种改进模型

以往的牺牲层腐蚀模型把扩散系数看作是常数,然而,实验结果和以往模型的计算结果在腐蚀开始一段较短的时间内吻合较好,但随着腐蚀时间的变长两者的差异越来越明显.为了解释这一现象并使模型能够较好地预测腐蚀过程,提出了腐蚀模型应该考虑氢氟酸扩散系数是浓度的函数,并在此基础上得到了改进模型.在改进模型中,浓度的下降会引起扩散系数的增大,这部分补偿了腐蚀前端浓度的下降.另外在改进模型中,扩散系数还是温度的函数.实验表明,改进模型与实验结果吻合地较好.这些结果不仅为对牺牲层腐蚀机理的理解提供新的证据,而且也为溶液在bubble结构里面的扩散提供新的证据.文中所观察到的这些现象也适合于其他类型的牺牲层腐蚀,条件是其腐蚀过程是受扩散限制的.     

A new solution for assigning cryptographic keys to control access in mobile agent environments

A mobile agent is a technological promising product. It is an executive program that can migrate from host to host, performing tasks autonomously. However, in an open environment, the mobile agent has many potential threats. Security becomes a critical issue for the mobile agent. Recently, Volker and Mehradad have constructed a mobile agent structure and designed a key assignment strategy to prevent the sensitive data to from being accessed by an unauthorized host. However, their scheme requires a larger agent size and a higher computational cost. In this paper, we shall propose an efficient key assignment scheme to enhance the performance of Volker and Mehradad's scheme. Only few computations and a fixed and small storage are required in our proposed scheme. Furthermore, our scheme can achieve the dynamic key management efficiently. It can also be implemented simply and practically. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种新的MOS结构量子化效应修正模型

从载流子在 MOS结构反型层内的经典分布和量子化后的子带结构出发 ,提出了经典的和量子化的表面有效态密度 (SL EDOS:Surface layer effective density- of- states)的概念。利用表面有效态密度的概念建立了经典理论框架和量子力学框架内的电荷分布模型。该模型包含了强反型区表面电势的变化对载流子浓度的影响 ,具有很高的计算效率和稳定性。在模型基础上 ,研究了量子化效应对反型层载流子浓度和表面电势的影响。     

A Cross Layer Scheduling Framework for Supporting Bursty Data Applications in WCDMA Networks

In future wireless networks multimedia applications are expected to finally dominate the overall traffic volume. Shared channels are more suitable for the transmission of this type of traffic, as they are able to periodically adjust their transmission rate. In this paper, we introduce a cross-layer framework for WCDMA based networks which aims to make the packet scheduling procedure more efficient. In addition to that, we further propose a traffic scheduling scheme which serves the connections not only according to their delay sensitivity, but also according to the predicted state of their wireless channel. The efficiency of the proposed scheme, in terms of average packet delay and channel utilization is verified via simulations.     

A cross‐layer TCP for providing fairness in wireless mesh networks

The fair allocation of resources among different nodes is one of the critical problems in wireless mesh networks. Existing solutions mainly focus on rate‐limitation policies or distributed fair MAC schemes at the potential expense of total network utilization. This paper investigates a special starvation problem among TCP flows that are different hops away from the BS, as well as its recently proposed solution, the ‘Minimum Content Window’ policy based on IEEE 802.11e. It is found that the aggregate throughput degrades sharply because the effect of this policy on the TCP congestion mechanism has been overlooked. This paper proposes a priority‐based congestion control by using ‘Cross‐Layer Explicit Congestion Notification’. Analysis and simulation results demonstrate that our scheme can improve the fairness of TCP flows while the aggregate throughput is at least 20% higher than the ‘Minimum Content Window’ policy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.