Sloped side walls in SU-8 structures with ‘Step-and-Flash’ processing

Summary, in English

We present a fast fabrication technique to achieve SU-8 structures with sloped side walls. We investigate the method of ‘Step-and-Flash’ which combines hot embossing with UV sensitive materials. The stamps are fabricated in Si by KOH etching to achieve mesa structures with side walls at a 54.7° angle to the bottom. These stamps are imprinted into SU-8-coated Pyrex wafers during the soft bake step of the SU-8 processing, under ambient conditions. The SU-8 is exposed through the Pyrex wafer and after a post exposure bake the stamp can be removed as the SU-8 is cross-linked – leaving stamp replicates in the SU-8. We have optimized the method and show that further processing of the structures is possible. We believe this method to be highly suitable for pattering sloped side wall structures in SU-8 as it can easily be incorporated into a standard SU-8 fabrication scheme without adding further process steps, as well as performed under ambient conditions.

• Author: Maria Nordström; Jörg Hübner; Anja Boisen
• Publishing year: 2006
• Language: English
• Pages: 1269-1272
• Publication/Series: Microelectronic Engineering
• Volume: 83
• Issue: 4/9
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2006.01.185
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Topic: Medical Engineering
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1873-5568