The Resist Technique—A Chemical Contribution to Electronics

Besides its technical meaning, the word “electronics” signifies another industrial revolution. The driving force behind this development is the very rapid progress in the field of integrated semiconductor circuits. An ever-increasing number of structures of ever-decreasing size must be accommodated on the same surface of the semiconductor crystal. This trend towards miniaturization embraces not only the integrated circuit but also its mounting panel, the printed circuit board; integrated circuits with 65 536 storage spaces, i.e. more than 100 000 individual functions, on a semiconductor die of less than 1 cm² are already standard today in industry. This micro-world, the potential of which can hardly be fully appreciated even today, has a direct appeal to all those of scientific inclination. However, the role of chemistry in the creation of this world becomes clear only on closer examination of the manufacturing processes: no mechanical tool is fine enough and no machine is sufficiently precise and rapid to work out complicated structures in the micron range with the required perfection. Chemistry first made possible the mass production of electronic components and consequently their widespread use today, and it is chemistry which will also play a decisive role in the future. Whether in the field of photoresists for the production of printed circuit boards with conductor widths of less than 100 μm, or in overcoming the 1 μm barrier in the manufacture of semiconductors using electron beam- and X-ray-resists, photochemistry, radiation chemistry, and polymer chemistry will have to develop new manufacturing processes and provide industrially utilizable materials.