Photolithography for Minimal Fab System

Abstract

Minimal Fab System Photolithography has been developed for wafer patterning process without the requirement of a cleanroom. It consists of minimal resist coater, minimal maskless UV exposure, minimal mask aligner and minimal resist developer. We have proved in practice that the spin coating using minimal resist coater for a 0.5-inch wafer gives the identical result of resist thickness compared with 4-inch wafers without changes to a higher rotational speed. The minimal maskless UV exposure using Digital Light Processing (DLP) confirms that only one LED light source with the light intensity of 150 mW/cm² can expose over a 0.5-inch wafer in a few minutes. The minimal mask aligner is developed for a high speed exposure within 5-20 seconds. The aligner also uses a LED light source that can produce the light intensity of 14 mW/cm². The present photoresist resolution for the maskless UV exposure and the mask aligner are 1 µm and 2 µm, respectively. The minimal developer has minimized its consumption of developing agents. Due to the surface tension, a volume of developing agent is kept on the wafer surface for slowly spinning to stimulate the developing process. The developing time is 20% saved from that of the conventional puddle development.