Sacrificial Layer Patterning for High-Resolution Microelectronics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current patterning methods, such as photolithography and ink-jet processes, are inefficient in material usage, complex, and prone to errors, especially when forming high-resolution patterns for microelectronic devices, leading to issues like waste and potential damage to substrates.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a sacrificial layer with pattern grooves formed using focused energy beams, where the sacrificial layer is removed by irradiation or heating, allowing a second material to fill the grooves and form high-resolution patterns without the need for expensive masks or donor films, thus minimizing material waste and improving processing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If photolithography is used to form high-resolution patterns, then pattern resolution is improved, but material consumption increases and process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the photomask component from the patterning process, replacing it with a direct inkjet printing approach that deposits pattern-forming material directly onto the substrate without requiring a separate mask layer, thereby eliminating mask-related material waste
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the patterning process into discrete digital deposition steps, where patterns are formed by selectively depositing material at specific locations rather than using a continuous exposure process, allowing precise material placement and reducing overall consumption
2Manufacturing precision
If photolithography is used to form high-resolution patterns, then pattern resolution is improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes multiple complex process steps including photomask fabrication, alignment procedures, photoresist coating, exposure, and development, replacing them with a simplified direct digital printing process that achieves high-resolution patterning in fewer steps
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical and chemical photolithography system with a digital printing system that uses computer-controlled material deposition, eliminating the need for photomasks, photoresists, and chemical developers while maintaining or improving pattern resolution
3Loss of substance
If inkjet process is used to form patterns directly, then material waste is reduced, but resolution is too low for microelectronic devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the inkjet process by using specialized pattern-forming materials with controlled viscosity and deposition characteristics, and by optimizing drop size and placement precision, thereby achieving high-resolution patterns while maintaining the material efficiency of direct printing
4Manufacturing precision
If laser patterning with donor film is used, then high-resolution patterns are formed, but functional materials are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the donor film component from the laser patterning process, replacing it with direct inkjet deposition of functional materials onto the substrate, thereby preventing the waste of functional materials that occurs when they are coated onto a sacrificial donor film
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a water-soluble polymer layer as a temporary mediator that facilitates controlled material deposition and transfer, allowing functional materials to be deposited precisely where needed without requiring a separate donor film, thus reducing material waste while maintaining high-resolution patterning capability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables the formation of high-resolution patterns with reduced material consumption and waste, improved processing efficiency, and prevents material degradation, making it suitable for microelectronic devices while avoiding the limitations of existing techniques.
Implementation Method 1
removing the first material present in the remaining sacrificial layer by way of irradiation or heating
Implementation Method 2
removing the first material present in the remaining sacrificial layer by way of irradiation or heating
Implementation Method 3
forming pattern grooves, which are free from the first material and have a line width of a first resolution or lower, on the sacrificial layer by using a first means
Data Source
AI summary
A patterning method comprising (a) providing a substrate having a sacrificial layer made of a first material, partially or totally formed on the substrate; (b) forming pattern grooves, which are free from the first material and have a line width of a first resolution or lower, on the sacrificial layer by using a first means; (c) filling the pattern grooves with a second material by using a second means; and (d) removing the first material present in a remaining sacrificial layer by way of irradiation or heating, wherein the first material has a threshold fluence of less than a threshold fluence of the second material, the first material is removed in step (d) under a dose ranging from the threshold fluence of the first material to that of the second material, and the pattern is formed on the substrate by the second material.