California Institute of Technology

Theodore Doll

Axel Scherer

Michael J Hochberg

Thomas Y Hoffman

Victor Fuenzalida

V Fuenzalida

The invention is a method of fabricating electrically passive components or optical elements on top or underneath of an integrated circuit by using a porous substrate that is locally filled with electrically conducting, light emitting, insulating or optically diffracting materials. The invention is directed to a method of fabricating electrically passive components like inductors, capacitors, interconnects and resistors or optical elements like light emitters, waveguides, optical switches of filters on top or underneath of an integrated circuit by using porous material layer that is locally filled with electrically conducting, light emitting, insulating or optically diffracting materials. In the illustrated embodiment the fabrication of voluminous, solenoid-type inductive elements in a porous insulating material by standard back- and front-side-lithography and contacting these two layers by electroplating micro-vias through the pores is described. By using a very dense interconnect spacing, an inter-pore capacitor structure is obtained between the metalized pores and the pore walls utilized as insulators.

Intermediate structures in porous substrates in which electrical and optical microdevices are fabricated and intermediate structures formed by the same

The invention is a method of introducing porous membranes into MEMS elements by supporting the membranes by frames to form an heterostructure. This is achieved by attaching to a structured or porous substrate one or more monolithically fabricated frames and membranes. Having membranes disposed on frames enables them to be batch processed and facilitates separation, handling and mounting within MEMS or nanofluidic systems. Applications include, but are not limited to, filters for gases or liquids, electron transmissive windows and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) accessible arrays of nanotest tubes containing liquid phases and other sample states. The invention includes the apparatus made by the method.

MEMS elements with integrated porous membranes and method of making the same

Lateral pores in a thin metal film as well as fabricating branching and expanding ore arrays can be fabricated by a method of growing long pores laterally underneath a ask by use of stress compliant masks or varying the anodization voltage. Applications range from use with scanning electron microscope (SEM-compatible single molecule probe stations), to nanowire fixtures and to the use with a &ldquo;pixelating, nonscanning&rdquo; near field optical microscope (NOM). Pores are defined by conventional anodization vertically into the underlying membrane of preporous material through any overlying masking layers. The general solution is to utilize mechanically stable masks that withstand the stress during anodization and counteract the pore formation stress to lead to good pore ordering and directed growth. Multilayer masks are well suited for this. With a composition of materials having different elastic properties, tensile stress can be matched to counteract compressive stress caused by porous material growth. The boundary stress problem between preporous and porous material is solved by using a planarizing mask material that provides locally increased masking layer thickness at the critical boundary between nonporous and porous material in the film.

Method of fabricating lateral nanopores, directed pore growth and pore interconnects and filter devices using the same

Method of forming intermediate structures in porous substrates in which electrical and optical microdevices are fabricated and intermediate structures formed by the same

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Arnstadt, Germany

Theodore Doll