International Business Machines Corporation

Robert R Wilbarg

Claude Johnson, Jr

James F White

Maris A Sturans

George J Giuffre

Thomas A Hansen

Donald R Dyer

A fabrication method for a microstructure having a vacuum sealed cavity therein including the process steps of forming an aluminum filled cavity in a body of silicon material and heating the structure such that the aluminum is absorbed into the silicon material leaving a vacuum in the cavity. In one embodiment of the invention a cavity is etched into a silicon wafer and filled with aluminum. A silicon dioxide layer is formed over the aluminum filled cavity and the structure is heated to produce the vacuum cavity.

Fabrication method for vacuum microelectronic devices

An improved structure for electron beam lithography grids and a method of fabricating such grids yields calibration grids having grid lines coplanar with the surface of the grid body and laterally supported by grooves formed in the grid body and which can also be cleaned after contamination by outgassing resist during use by virtue of the provision of such lateral support for the grid lines. The grid exhibits improved accuracy due to the technique of fabrication of the grooves. The invention thus allows the electron beam lithography process to be conducted with less expense and at greater speed. The improved accuracy of the calibration grid also permits integrated circuits and masks used in the fabrication of such devices to be designed more flexibly and fabricated at reduced cost and improved integration densities and manufacturing yields.

Method of forming planarized, reusable calibration grids

An improved structure for electron beam lithography grids and a method of fabricating such grids yields calibration grids having grid lines coplanar with the surface of a the grid body and laterally supported by grooves formed in the grid body and which can also be cleaned after contamination by outgassing resist during use by virtue of the provision of such lateral support for the grid lines. The grid exhibits improved accuracy due to the technique of fabrication of the grooves. The invention thus allows the electron beam lithography process to be conducted with less expense and at a greater speed. The improved accuracy of the calibration grid also permits integrated circuits and masks used in the fabrication of such devices to be designed more flexibly and fabricated at reduced cost and improved integration densities and manufacturing yields.

Planarized, reusable calibration grids

A differential reactive ion etching process significantly reduces the reflectivity of silicon. The process takes place in a reactive ion etching tool, typically a diode-configured system employing ambient gases which react with the silicon.

Method for fabricating non-reflective semiconductor surfaces by

A method of depositing patterned thin films on an integrated circuit substrate which comprises first forming a layer of positive photoresist material on the substrate and then heating to partially cure the photoresist while maintaining the surface of the photoresist interfacing with the substrate at a lower temperature than the opposite surface of the photoresist which is being exposed to the heat. As a result of this expedient, the upper or exposed portion of the photoresist layer is cured to a greater extent than the lower portion at the interface with the substrate. Then, the photoresist layer is exposed to a selected pattern of light, after which developer for the photoresist material is applied. The developer will remove the less cured interfacing portion of the photoresist layer at a higher rate than the more cured upper layer to thereby form an aperture pattern through the photoresist layer corresponding to the light pattern wherein the apertures are respectively narrower at the opposite or exposed surface than at said interfacing surface. This produces the negative slope or 'overhang' type lift-off mask which is considered to be critical to forming thin film patterns by lift-off techniques. Then, the selected thin film is deposited onto said substrate through the apertures utilizing the photoresist mask as a deposition mask, after which the remainder of the photoresist layer is removed, leaving the thin film pattern on the substrate.

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Hopewell Junction, NY, United States of America

Robert R Wilbarg