Glass microfabricated nebulizer chip for mass spectrometry

A microfluidic nebulizer chip for mass spectrometry is presented. It is an all-glass device which consists of fusion bonded Pyrex wafers with embedded flow channels and a nozzle at the chip edge. A platinum heater is located on the wafer backside. Fabrication of the chip is detailed, especially glass deep etching, wafer bonding, and metal patterning. Various process combinations of bonding and metallization have been considered (anodic bonding vs. fusion bonding; heater inside/outside channel; metallization before/after bonding; platinum lift-off vs. etching). The chip vaporizes the liquid sample (0.1-10 microL min(-1)) and mixes it with a nebulizer gas (ca. 100 sccm N2). Operating temperatures can go up to 500 degrees C ensuring efficient vaporization. Thermal insulation of the glass ensures low temperatures at the far end of the chip, enabling easy interconnections.     

Effect of Wafer Temperature on High Aspect Ratio Hardmask Etching

Fluorocarbon-based chemistries were used to study the effect of wafer temperature on the etch of high aspect ratio hardmasks composed of SiO₂ and SiN_x layers. It is found that etch stop can occur easily at high temperature. The rate of polymer deposition plays an important role in etch stop. The etching rates were found to be inversely proportional to the wafer temperature. Such a relation indicates a negative activation energy in the rate expression of hardmask etching using fluorocarbon plasma. It also implies that in hardmask etching, complicated gas-surface, but not simple one-step, reactions are involved. Different wafer surface temperature can provide different degree of activation for etching reactions. Analysis of etching rate and optical emission trends indicates that CF_x may contribute more than F does in the etch of SiO₂ and SiN_x, since polymer-rich etching chemistries were used. Based on the temperature-dependent etching rate, we propose a reaction mechanism for the reaction trends observed in hardmask etching.     

反应离子刻蚀和自组装分子膜构建硅基底疏水与超疏水表面

采用反应离子刻蚀技术在Si(100)表面加工微米级圆柱阵列, 采用自组装技术分别制备了3种硅烷自组装分子膜. 结果表明, 采用反应离子刻蚀构建出的4种微米级圆柱阵列结构规整, 其直径为5 μm, 高度为10 μm, 间距为15~45 μm. 沉积自组装分子膜后, 试样表面的水接触角显著增大, 其中沉积1H,1H,2H,2H-全氟癸基三氯硅烷(FDTS)自组装分子膜接触角最大, 1H,1H,2H,2H-全氟辛烷基三氯硅烷(FOTS)次之, 三氯十八硅烷(OTS)最小. 测得的接触角大于150°时接近Cassie方程计算的接触角, 而小于150°时接近Wenzel方程计算的接触角. 改变圆柱阵列的间距和选择不同的自组装分子膜, 可以控制表面接触角的大小. 原子力显微镜(AFM)观测结果显示, 沉积自组装分子膜可以产生纳米级的团簇. 由微米级圆柱阵列和纳米级自组装分子膜构成的表面结构使Si试样表面接触角最大可达156.0°.     

Aligned Pt-diamond core-shell nanowires for electrochemical catalysis

Heavily boron-doped diamond electrode has been applied as a robust substrate for Pt based catalyst. However, by simply applying a planar electrode the effective surface area of the catalyst is limited. In this article we for the first time prepared vertically aligned Pt-diamond core-shell nanowires electrode in a convenient and scalable method (up to 6-inch wafer size). The diamond nanowires are first fabricated with reactive ion etching with metal nanoparticles as etching masks. The following Pt deposition was achieved by DC sputtering. Different amounts of Pt were coated on to the nanowires and the morphology of the core-shell wires is characterized by SEM and TEM. The catalytic oxygen/hydrogen adsorption/desorption response are characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The results show that the active Pt surface area is 23 times higher than a planar Pt electrode, and 4.3 times higher than previously reported on Pt nanoparticles on diamond by electro-deposition. Moreover, this highly active surface is stable even after 1000 full surface oxidation and reduction cycles.     

光诱导约束刻蚀体系中的TiO_2纳米管阵列光电极上Cu的沉积及抑制

光诱导约束刻蚀可作为一种无应力的化学平坦化方法用于Cu的抛光。我们发现在光诱导约束刻蚀工件Cu的过程中,工具表面的TiO_2纳米管上可能出现Cu沉积。通过扫描电子显微镜及其能谱,X射线光电子能谱等方法分析其沉积形貌和成分组成,探究在工具-工件之间的微纳尺度液层中Cu光催化还原沉积的机制,并在模拟液中研究Cu沉积对刻蚀体系的影响。探究引入搅拌、加入络合剂对TiO_2纳米管表面Cu的沉积的抑制,并考察抑制措施对于工件Cu刻蚀的影响。结果表明Cu沉积会增强TiO_2纳米管光电极的光催化性能,但随着沉积量的增加,增强机制会发生变化;在尝试抑制Cu沉积时也发现改善传质以抑制Cu沉积的同时也会带来工件Cu的刻蚀增强;采用添加络合剂结合改善传质的方法有望在抑制Cu沉积的同时提高平坦化效果。所以抑制方法和条件的选择需兼顾对工具-工件之间微纳液层中的多个化学和传质过程的影响。这些研究对于进一步优化光诱导约束刻蚀体系及其在化学平坦化中的应用有重要的指导意义。     

A Novel Silicon Etching Method Using Vapor of Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Solution

Silicon bulk etching is an important part of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology. In this work, a novel etching method is proposed based on the vapor from tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution heated up to boiling point. The monocrystalline silicon wafer is positioned over the solution surface and can be anisotropically etched by the produced vapor. This etching method does not rely on the expensive vacuum equipment used in dry etching. Meanwhile, it presents several advantages like low roughness, high etching rate and high uniformity compared with the conventional wet etching methods. The etching rate and roughness can reach 2.13 μm/min and 1.02 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the diaphragm structure and Al-based pattern on the non-etched side of wafer can maintain intact without any damage during the back-cavity fabrication. Finally, an etching mechanism has been proposed to illustrate the observed experimental phenomenon. It is suggested that there is a water thin film on the etched surface during the solution evaporation. It is in this water layer that the ionization and etching reaction of TMAH proceed, facilitating the desorption of hydrogen bubble and the enhancement of molecular exchange rate. This new etching method is of great significance in the low-cost and high-quality micro-electro-mechanical system industrial fabrication.     

Determination of metallic impurities in a silicon wafer by local etching and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.

An etching technique for the determination of the metallic impurities distribution in silicon wafers has been developed. An area of 10 mmphi and 10 microm depth was etched by 100 microL of an etching solution with a HF and HNO3 mixture. The acid matrix was evaporated on the wafer surface by IR lamp illumination and vacuum exhaust. Metallic impurities remaining on the wafer surface were redissolved into the collection solution, which was measured by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS). The recovery invested by local etching/ET-AAS was within 95 - 112% for Fe, Cu and Ni. The detection limit (3sigma) for Fe, Cu and Ni in silicon was 1 x 10(13) atoms/cm3. To confirm the applicability, local etching was applied to evaluate the effects of metallic impurities in a gettering study and the electronic properties of semiconductor devices. It was found that local etching is a useful sample preparation technique for the analysis of metallic impurities in a specific area on a silicon wafer.     

Study of reactive ion etching of Si and SiO2 for CFxCl4−x gases

A parametric study of the etching of Si and SiO₂ by reactive ion etching (RIE) was carried out to gain a better understanding of the etching mechanisms. The following fluorocarbons (FCs) were used in order to study the effect of the F-to-Cl atom ratio in the parent molecule to the plasma and the etching properties: CF₄, CF₃Cl, CF₂Cl₂, and CFCl₃ (FC-14, FC-13, FC-12, and FC-11 respectively). The Si etch rate uniformity across the wafer as a function of the temperature of the wafer and the Si load, the optical emission as a function of the temperature of the load, the etch rate of SiO₂ as a function of the sheath voltage, and the mass spectra for each of the FCs were measured. The temperature of the wafer and that of the surrounding Si load strongly influence the etch rate of Si, the uniformity of etching, and the optical emission of F, Cl, and CF₂. The activation energy for the etching reaction of Si during CF₄ RIE was measured. The etch rate of Si depends more strongly on the gas composition than on the sheath voltage; it seems to be dominated by ion-assisted chemical etching. The etching of photoresist shifted from chemical etching to ion-assisted chemical etching as a function of the F-to-Cl ratio and the sheath voltage. The etch rate of SiO₂ depended more strongly on the sheath voltage than on the F-to-Cl ratio.     

Ion chromatography on-chip

On-chip separation of inorganic anions by ion-exchange chromatography was realized. Micro separation channels were fabricated on a silicon wafer and sealed with a Pyrex cover plate using standard photolithography, wet and dry chemical etching, and anodic bonding techniques. Quaternary ammonium latex particles were employed for the first time to coat the separation channels on-chip. Owing to the narrow depths of the channels on the chip, 0.5-10 microm, there were more interactions of the analytes with the stationary phase on the chip than in a 50-microm I.D. capillary. With off-chip injection (20 nl) and UV detection, NO2-, NO3-, I-, and thiourea were separated using 1 mM KCl as the eluent. The linear ranges for NO2- and NO3- are from 5 to 1000 microM with the detection limits of 0.5 microM.     

利用胶体探针技术研究多巴与纳米、微米及微纳复合结构表面之间的相互作用

通过在硅片表面有机蒸镀不同厚度的二十九烷制备了不同晶体密度的仿生旱金莲叶面蜡质纳米结构表面,采用端基修饰多巴的原子力显微镜胶体探针,对各纳米结构表面进行了粘附性能测试,发现蒸镀200 nm厚度二十九烷结晶的纳米结构表面具有较低粘附力。采用反应离子刻蚀方法制备了不同高度的硅材质仿生鲨鱼皮微米结构表面,并选择了200 nm厚度二十九烷在仿生鲨鱼皮表面进行有机蒸镀制备了微纳复合结构表面,通过胶体探针的研究发现多巴与高度为1、3、5μm微纳复合结构表面的粘附力均小于与200 nm厚度二十九烷结晶的纳米结构表面之间的粘附力,说明微纳复合结构表面具有很强的抗多巴粘附能力,并且这种复合结构表面相对于硅材质的仿生鲨鱼皮微米结构表面还兼有旱金莲叶面的强疏水性和极佳的抗水粘附能力。     

不同碱液单晶硅表面织构的初步研究(英文)

分别以氢氧化钠(NaOH)、碳酸钠(Na2CO3)和磷酸钠(Na3PO4.12H2O)作为刻蚀剂,研究刻蚀浓度、温度(θ)、刻蚀时间(te)和添加剂(异丙醇(IPA)、碳酸氢钠(NaHCO3))对晶体硅表面织构化的影响,用场发射扫描电子显微镜表征织构效果.通过优化工艺,可得到较低的平均表面反射率(Rav),按使用的刻蚀剂分别为:9.70%(NaOH)、9.76%(Na2CO3)和8.63%(Na3PO4.12H2O).据此分析了Rav和织构表面形貌之间的关系.发现添加剂IPA在Na3PO4.12H2O或Na2CO3与NaOH 3种刻蚀剂溶液中均可明显起改善织构效果.NaHCO3在某些方面具有与IPA的相同作用,同时又能促进大金字塔的形成.文中同时初步提出有关刻蚀过程的机理.     

Mechanisms of particle removal from silicon wafer surface in wet chemical cleaning process

A quantitative mechanism of particle removal from silicon wafer surfaces by a wet chemical cleaning process is proposed. The particles are removed from the surface due to the combined effects of chemical etching and a net repulsive interaction between the particle and surface. The mechanism suggests that a critical etching depth, which has been determined theoretically, and an optimal etching rate, which can be determined from etching profile calculation, are required for particle removal. The study will help in the optimization of cleaning processes and formulation of superior cleaning solutions.     

Bismuth spheres grown in self-nested cavities in a silicon wafer

We have developed a one-step, hydrofluoric acid-free hydrothermal etching method that not only produces bismuth nano/micrometer-sized spheres but also prepares porous silicon with vertical holes. By controlling the heating temperature and time, nanoscale vertical-channeled porous silicon can be received. Our result indicated that the Bi clusters were formed first on the wafer surface. Then the etching of the Bi to the wafer creates the holes. Later, the Bi spheres went into the holes and expedited the etching process. A formation mechanism and chemical process have been proposed on the basis of experimental data. This simple chemistry approach may be of great scientific and technological importance for preparing porous silicon wafer.     

Optical Diagnostics of the Effect of Oxygen on Bi-Level Contact Etch

The effect of oxygen flow rate on bi-level contact etch was studied by observing uv-visible emission from the plasma, during CHF₃/CO/O₂ etching of di-electric layers consisting of SiO₂ and SiN_x. The emission intensity of CN at 387 nm drifted progressively from wafer to wafer during plasma etch. Such a phenomenon became more obvious when using low or high oxygen flow rate, whereas for intermediate flow rates, no significant drift of emission intensity was observed. The critical dimension (CD) bias of each wafer showed a strong correlation with CN emission intensity. Possible mechanisms for such an intensity drift phenomenon are proposed. The drift of emission intensity indicates that the contribution of chamber wall polymers in wafer etching is non-negligible. The CN emission intensity is an indication of the magnitude of etching rate. Our results suggest that the variation of plasma emission intensity might be used as an index for in-line monitoring of CD bias fluctuation.     

Multi-layer microfluidic glass chips for microanalytical applications

A new, versatile architecture is presented for microfluidic devices made entirely from glass, for use with reagents which would prove highly corrosive for silicon. Chips consist of three layers of glass wafers bonded together by fusion bonding. On the inside wafer faces a network of microfluidic channels is created by photolithography and wet chemical etching. Low dead-volume fluidic connections between the layers are fabricated by spark-assisted etching (SAE), a computer numerical controlled (CNC)-like machining technique new to microfluidic system fabrication. This method is also used to form a vertical, long path-length, optical cuvette through the middle wafer for optical absorbance detection of low-concentration compounds. Advantages of this technique compared with other, more standard, methods are discussed. When the new glass-based device for flow-injection analysis of ammonia was compared with our first-generation chips based on silicon micromachining, concentration sensitivity was higher, because of the longer path-length of the optical cuvette. The dependence of dispersion on velocity profile and on channel cross-sectional geometry is discussed. The rapid implementation of the devices for an organic synthesis reaction, the Wittig reaction, is also briefly described.     

电化学微/纳加工分辨率的影响因素及对策

The etching resolution of electrochemical fabrication technique is influenced significantly by the diffusion layer of the etchant. It has been shown that a fast etching rate can achieve higher etching resolution due to so-called heterogeneous scavenging effect, while a lower etching rate will result in rather lower etching resolution. For the latter case, the confined etchant layer technique(CELT) has been employed to improve the etching resolution. i. e., a certain redox couple which can consume the etchant homogeneously and rapidly was added to the solution. The homogeneous scavenging effect confined the etchant within a narrow layer around the electrode surface and much improved etching resolution was achieved. Using the CELT and a needle-shaped microelectrode, an etching spot of several micro-meters was obtained at silicon wafer surface.     

Simultaneous Capture,Detection, and Inactivation of Bacteria as Enabled by a Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering Multifunctional Chip

Herein, we present a multifunctional chip based on surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) that effectively captures, discriminates, and inactivates pathogenic bacteria. The developed SERS chip is made of a silicon wafer decorated with silver nanoparticles and modified with 4‐mercaptophenylboronic acid (4‐MPBA). It was prepared in a straightforward manner by chemical reduction assisted by hydrogen fluoride etching, followed by the conjugation of 4‐MPBA through Ag? S bonds. The dominant merits of the fabricated SERS chip include excellent reproducibility with a relative standard deviation (RSD) value smaller than 11.0 %, adaptable bacterial‐capture efficiency (ca. 60 %) at low concentrations (500–2000 CFU mL^?1), a low detection limit (down to a concentration of 1.0×10² cells mL^?1), and high antibacterial activity (an antibacterial rate of ca. 97 %). The SERS chip enabled sensitive and specific discrimination of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus from human blood.     

Simultaneous Capture,Detection, and Inactivation of Bacteria as Enabled by a Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering Multifunctional Chip

Herein, we present a multifunctional chip based on surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) that effectively captures, discriminates, and inactivates pathogenic bacteria. The developed SERS chip is made of a silicon wafer decorated with silver nanoparticles and modified with 4‐mercaptophenylboronic acid (4‐MPBA). It was prepared in a straightforward manner by chemical reduction assisted by hydrogen fluoride etching, followed by the conjugation of 4‐MPBA through Ag S bonds. The dominant merits of the fabricated SERS chip include excellent reproducibility with a relative standard deviation (RSD) value smaller than 11.0 %, adaptable bacterial‐capture efficiency (ca. 60 %) at low concentrations (500–2000 CFU mL⁻¹), a low detection limit (down to a concentration of 1.0×10² cells mL⁻¹), and high antibacterial activity (an antibacterial rate of ca. 97 %). The SERS chip enabled sensitive and specific discrimination of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus from human blood.     

Titrimetric determination of silicon dissolved in concentrated HF-HNO3-etching solutions

The wet chemical etching of silicon by concentrated HF-HNO₃ mixtures in solar and semiconductor wafer fabrication requires the strict control of the etching conditions. Surface morphology and etch rates are mainly affected by the amount of dissolved silicon, that is continuously enriched in the etching solution with each etching run. A fast and robust method for the titrimetric determination of the total dissolved silicon content out of the concentrated etching solution is presented. This method is based on the difference between the two equivalence points of the total amount of acid and the hydrolysis of the hexafluorosilicic anion. This approach allows a silicon determination directly from the etching process in spite of the presence of dissolved nitric oxides in the etching solution. The influences of different acid mixing ratios and of the etching solution density depending on the silicon content is considered and discussed in detail.     

Spectroscopic diagnostics of temperature-controlled trench etching of silicon

Emission from the plasma species CCI, CN, CO, N₂, and Si teas monitored during trench etching of silicon with a CHCl₃/ N, chernistrv. The temperature of the backside of the wafer was recorded simultaneously. The emission response to experimentally induced perturbations of the plasma was found to be particularly informative. One such perturbation teas a sudden change of the wafer temperature through control of the He pressure under the wafer. The other perturbation involved a drastic change of the N₂ flow rate. Our results confirm the mechanism of control of the trench profile through the temperature-dependent rate of deposition of polymers on the sidewalls during etch. Further, N₂, which certainly plays a crucial role in this chemistry, may engage in a surlàce reaction producing CN radicals; our data are consistent with this surlàce reaction. Finally, an algorithm tvas constructed for real-time monitoring of the selectivity of .silicon to the oxide mask; selectivity is shown to be very sensitive to the presence of N₂.