Microelectronic Engineering 83 (2006) 13161320 www.elsevier.

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Micro-gear fabrication using optical projection lithography on copper-clad plastic substrates and electroplating of nickel
Toshiyuki Horiuchi *, Yusuke Furuuchi 1, Ryota Nakamura 2, Katsunori Hirota
Tokyo Denki University, 2-2 Kanda-Nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8457, Japan Available online 14 February 2006

Abstract Nickel micro-gears were fabricated using optical projection lithography on copper-clad plastic substrates and nickel electroplating. Adopting low numerical-aperture projection exposure, large depth-of-focus was secured, and SU-8 resist moulds with vertical sidewalls were fabricated. In addition, cost was greatly reduced by using copper-clad plastic substrates instead of silicon wafers. After nickel was electroplated in nickel sulfate solution, nickel gears with modules of 0.0260.04 and pitch diameters of 7601100 lm were stripped from the substrates when the resist moulds were dissolved in hot remover. 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Micro-gear; Optical projection lithography; Nickel electroplating; Copper-clad plastic substrate

1. Introduction Micro-fabrication methods combining lithography and electroplating are useful for developing various micro electrical and mechanical systems (MEMS) such as sensors, actuators, mirror matrixes, chemical reactors, and others. Though X-ray lithography has been mainly adopted for these uses [13], low-cost optical lithography is preferable because required pattern sizes are generally large [4,5]. On the other hand, silicon wafers are often too expensive, and electro-conductive substrates are preferable for the following electroplating. For this reason, a new method using optical projection lithography on copper-clad plastic boards is investigated. After fabricating resist moulds, they are lled with nickel by electroplating, and precise nickel micro-gears are successfully obtained.

2. Resist mould fabrication Resist moulds were formed by the developed exposure system shown in Fig. 1. A camera lens with a low numerical aperture of 0.063 was used as the projection lens to secure a large depth-of-focus, and a UV light source with spectrum of 290420 nm was prepared for exposing a negative resist SU-8 100 (MicroChem Corp.) having high transmittance for UV light (Fig. 2). Light intensity distribution degrades under defocused conditions. However, the light intensity decreases depending on the absorption through the resist. Therefore, if the broadening of light intensity distribution curves caused by the defocus is balanced with the decreasing of the light intensity caused by the absorption, light intensity curves at various depths in the resist cross at one point as shown in Fig. 3. Then, the widths of the light intensity curves become same at all depths when the exposure slice level is set at the cross point. Therefore, the light intensity contours become vertical to the substrate. It is preferable to put the image focal point higher than the resist surface to realize this performance. Fig. 4 shows examples of printed line-and-space patterns. They were printed well with an aspect ratio of up to 7.

1 2 3

Corresponding author. E-mail address: horiuchi@p.dendai.ac.jp (T. Horiuchi). Present address: Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. Present address: Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd. Present address: Canon Inc.

0167-9317/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.mee.2006.01.083

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Light guide Collective lens

UV light source

Reticle stage Projection lens

=290-460 nm NA=0.063 Reduction: 1/19 Width: 600mm Depth: 300mm Height: 970mm

Isolated line patterns were printed even when the aspect ratio was more than 11, as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 6 shows the resist moulds of micro-gear with a thickness of 200 and 440 lm. A regular-size brass gear was placed on a transparent acrylic plate and used as a reticle. 3. Nickel electroplating Nickel electroplating was investigated next using commercially available nickel sulfate solution. Substrates were cut into small pieces with a size of less than 10 mm2, and every small piece was moved in the solution by a motor (Fig. 7). Electroplating temperature recommended by the solution vendor was 4565 C. Fig. 8 shows the relationship between the temperature and the electroplating rate. Though the rate was highest at 45 C, we selected 50 C because 45 C was the lower limit of the vendors recommendation. Electroplating rate was much more dependent on the current as shown in Fig. 9, and it was approximately proportional to the square root of the current. Therefore, too much current is not economical. When the current is larger than 20 mA, top surfaces of the electroplated nickel gears sometimes became rough and thickness uniformity degraded. Therefore, the current condition of 15 mA was

Wafer stage Base plate

Fig. 1. The exposure system used for fabricating resist moulds.

Transmittance

1.00 0.80 0.60 0.40

=405 nm

0.20

=365 nm

0.10

100 200 Resist thickness (m)

300

Fig. 2. Measured transmittance of SU-8 for exposure light.

Exposure light Appropriate slice level A A Resist Li ght i nt e nsi t y B C D Position (m) Substrate
Fig. 3. Principle for obtaining vertical sidewalls.

B
C D

Fig. 4. Patterns printed in 240-lm thick SU-8 resist: (a) 32-lm line-and-space; (b) 37-lm line-and-space.

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Fig. 5. Isolated patterns with high aspect ratios: (a) width is 24 lm; (b) width is 53 lm.

Fig. 6. Resist moulds of micro-gears: (a) 200 lm thick; (b) 440 lm thick.

Plastic vessel Stirring mechanism Nickel anode

100

10
Nickel sulfate

Substrate with resist moulds

1 0.1

1 Current (mA)

10

100

Fig. 9. Plating rate dependence on current.

Hot plate

Fig. 7. Experimental setup for etching.

500 200 150 100 50 40 50 60 Temperature (C) 70 400 300 200 100 0 0 5 Electroplating time (h) 10

Fig. 8. Plating rate dependence on temperature.

Fig. 10. Nickel thickness dependence on electroplating time.

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Fig. 11. Fabricated nickel micro-gears. (a) Module is 0.04 and pitch-diameter is 760 lm. (b) The gear is supported on a tip of a needle. Module is 0.026 and pitch-diameter is 1100 lm.

Fig. 12. Detailed view of the gear teeth: (a) thickness is 200 lm, (b) thickness is 400 lm.

selected. The optimum current probably depends on the specimen size. In the above experiments, electroplated area size was only about 1.05 mm2. Thickness dependence on electroplating time is shown in Fig. 10. Though the thickness increased according to the time, the plating rate gradually decreased. However, it was conrmed that nickel was electroplated more than 400 lm thick anyway. 4. Resist removal and stripping of gears Resist moulds were dissolved in SU-8 remover, and electroplated nickel parts were stripped from the substrates. SU-8 remover was heated at 80 C in a plastic vessel on a hot plate, and the specimens were soaked in it. When the vessel was swung for 530 min by hands, most of the resist moulds were dissolved and some of the nickel gears were stripped o from the substrate. Figs. 11 and 12 show the nished nickel gears and the gear teeth. In some cases, however, the resist was not dissolved and remained at narrow hollows of the moulds, especially in the center holes. Resist removal and stripping of micro-parts should be investigated further. If these gears were arranged in an appropriate casing and moved by a motor, micro-gear pump would be real-

Fig. 13. Nickel gears placed in a pump casing.

ized. Mechanical arrangement of gears in a casing is shown in Fig. 13. The pump casing was fabricated by the same method. 5. Conclusion A low-cost micro-fabrication method using optical projection lithography and nickel electroplating was demonstrated. Using optical lithography instead of X-ray

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lithography, mask cost and exposure system cost were extremely decreased. In addition, using copper-clad plastic substrates instead of silicon wafers, substrate cost was also reduced to less than 1/10. Applying the new method, micro-gears with modules of 0.0260.04, pitch diameters of 7601100 lm and thicknesses of 200400 lm were successfully fabricated. Acknowledgments This work was partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Research Institute for Technology, Tokyo Denki

University (Q04M-04) and Tokyo Denki University Science Promotion Fund. References
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