KEY ACTION 4 - ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES AND INFRASTRUCTURES

4.8 Microelectronics – Optoelectronics

4.8.2. Microelectronics technologies: processes, equipment and
devices

THIN FILMS AND THIN FILM GROWTH SYSTEMS FOR MICROELECTRONICS

Müzeyyen Ece Oral & Baybars Oral

Teknoplazma Advanced Technology Materials Industry and Trade Corporation
METU Technopolis ARGE İkizler Binası Zeminaltı Kat No:3
6531 Ankara Turkey
www.teknoplazma.com.tr
muzeyyen@teknoplazma.com.tr

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to create an R &D environment that is industrially oriented,
technically strong and economically competitive in the fields of thin films/thin film growth
systems which are the solid foundations of Microelectronics and Optoelectronics. The trend in
these fields is from micro to nano devices since it is clearly foreseen that the economic
success lies in miniaturization. Therefore, Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have
started receiving a great deal of attention. MEMS is the integration of mechanical elements
and electronics on silicon (Si) substrates by utilizing film growth and material etching
techniques. MEMS devices are extremely small in size, for example, electrically driven
motors smaller than the diameter of a human hair can be realized thanks to MEMS. If one
looks at current forecasts for Nanotechnology, often reads outstanding sentences such as “
Small is Big”, “Big Plans for the Tiny World”, “Nanotechnology: It’s a small, small, small
world” etc. Several countries in Europe, The Unites States and Japan have been steadily
allocating more resources for Nanotechnology R& D studies . The reason behind is that
forecasters have already projected that expertise in nanotechnology will be a key factor of the
economical leadership in the 21st century. However, those who plan to lead are facing a
challenge of developing and also maintaining this expertise. It is needless to say that this
challenge contains several difficulties; skyrocketing development and manufacturing cost,
both scientific and technological issues, adaptation problems to new technology etc. No single
company can address and solve all of these issues and problems, respectively. Cooperative
efforts among companies, universities, government labs. can provide some answers.
Teknoplazma- as a young SME (Small to Medium Size Enterprise) hopes to establish a
mutually lucrative cooperation with firms and research labs in EU Member Countries. We
have a specific goal that is to expand our expertise in thin film growth studies and thin film
growth systems. We would also like to enhance our capabilities in developing wear and
corrosive resistant coatings as well as thin film deposition systems. The suggested model in
this work is to participate in collaborations since solving critical problems requires forming
teams having appropriate expertise and responsibility. We expect to be measurably productive
and create economically competitive links with end users in industry and research labs in EU
member countries.

KEY WORDS: Nanotechnology, MEMS, Materials, Coatings, Thin Films, Thin films for
optical, wear and corrosion resistance applications, Thin Film Growth Systems.
INTRODUCTION
Different methods of thin film deposition and etching are fundamentals for microelectronics
processes and equipment. Therefore, we would like to give a short introduction how to create
microstructures using various methods of thin film deposition and etching materials.
Manufacturing of microstructures are based on a number of tools and methodologies which
consist of three major steps:
1. Deposition of thin films /coatings on a substrate
2. Photolithography: obtaining the desired shapes via masks and
photolithographic imaging
3. Selective etching of the films

Deposition of thin films on a substrate: Deposition technologies can be divided into two
groups: Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) and Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD)
processes. CVD is based on chemical reactions whereas PVD processes (often just
called thin film processes) are atomistic deposition processes in which material is
vaporized from a solid or liquid source in the form of atoms or molecules. The
evaporated material gets transported in a low pressure or plasma environment to the
substrate where it condenses and forms thin layers of films. PVD can be used to
deposit films of elements, alloys as well as compounds using reactive deposition
processes. In reactive deposition, compounds are formed by the reaction of depositing
material with the ambient gas environment such as nitrogen. For example ,coatings of
titanium nitride (TiN) or Chromium nitride (CrN) are deposited on different kinds of
cutting and shaping tools against both wear and corrosion.. The main categories of
PVD processing arc vacuum evaporation, sputter deposition and ion plating. Each
process has its own advantages, disadvantages and applications. We have chosen PVD
unbalanced magnetron sputtering method for our application areas in which
developed coatings are used against wear as well as corrosion . One can notice that in
this text the terms of “ thin films” and “ coatings” are being used selectively.
Generally, the term thin film is applied to layers which have thicknesses on the order
of microns or less and may be as thin as a few atomic layers. On the other hand, the
thicker layers of films are usually called “coatings”.

Sputter deposition is the deposition of particles vaporized from a surface (called “ target “) by
momentum transfer. It is a non thermal vaporization process where surface atoms are
physically ejected from a target by momentum transfer from an atomic sized energetic
bombarding particle which is usually a gaseous ion accelerated from a plasma. The
sputtering target a long lived vaporization source that can be mounted to vaporize in
any direction. This process is a line of sight process, the film thickness drops down
when surfaces do not face targets directly. Sputter deposition is widely used to deposit
thin films on semiconductor materials, coatings on architectural glass,
reflective/antireflective optical coatings, magnetic films, dry film lubricants and
decorative coatings.

Photolithography: Photolithography is typically the transfer of a pattern to a photosensitive

material by selective exposure to light. If one selectively exposes a photosensitive material to
light (e.g. by masking some of the radiation ) the pattern of the radiation on the material is
transferred to the material exposed, as the properties of the exposed and unexposed regions
differs. Photolithography has become the dominant technique in microelectronic industry
where very precise definition of fine line patterns is a prime requirement. One can
immediately see that demands for extremely small pattern dimensions for Nanotechnology
are immense and these demands have greatly stimulated development of all the techniques
which are involved in photolithography.

Selective etching of the films: In order to form functional structures on a substrate, it is

necessary to etch thin films previously deposited and/or substrate itself. In general, there are
two classes of etching processes: Wet and dry etching. In wet etching, the material is
dissolved when immersed in a chemical solution . In dry etching where the material is
sputtered or dissolved using reactive ions or a vapor phase etchant. . With dry etching it is
possible to etch almost straight down without undercutting, which provides much higher
resolution. The dry etching technology can split in three separate classes called reactive ion
etching (RIE), sputter etching, and vapor phase etching. A new version of RIE, which
continues to gain recognition, is deep RIE (DRIE).

Dry etching (RIE, DRIE) systems are, in principle, very similar to sputtering thin film
deposition systems. The big difference is that substrates in etching are subjected to the ion
bombardment instead of targets used in sputter deposition.

Both thin film growth and etching systems are expensive to get and run compared to wet film
growth and etching systems. However, when applications require small features with fine
resolution in thin film structures and etching, then ,these dry techniques of both deposition
and etching become essential. Therefore, the accessibility of end users to facilities which
contain these micro fabrication tools need to be increased. Thus, most companies, both small
and large, which are at the stage of developing new nanodevices can have the options of
getting their devices quickly prototyped or even manufactured.

BACKGROUND ABOUT TEKNOPLAZMA

Foundation: Teknoplazma Industry and Trade Corp. was founded in 1996 at the Technology
Development Center of KOSGEB (Small and Medium Industry Development Organization),
located on the campus of the Middle-East Technical University (METU). This technology
development center acts as an incubator for start up companies. Teknoplazma has recently
moved to its new place in Technopolis of METU by completing its incubation period
successfully. Teknoplazma was the first company financed by a Turkish Venture Capitalist
company called Vakıf Risk Co. Vakıf Risk is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vakıf Bank which
is a leading bank with a solid presence and reputation both nationally and internationally. The
founders of Teknoplazma have strong technical backgrounds on thin film growth studies as
well as in building thin film growth systems. They hold master and doctorate degrees in
relevant areas and have worked as post doctors in three different European countries. After
having acquired such expertise they have returned to Turkey and found Teknoplazma with a
solid financial support of Vakıf Risk Co. Since its inception the company has been providing
services to Turkish industry with hard ceramic coatings against wear and corrosion. Within a
short period of time, Teknoplazma has developed stable relationships with companies,
universities and government research labs. We have recently begun restructuring and
expanding our activities in building thin film growth equipment for universities, research
labs. Unique design parameters, development and customization , versatility and flexibilility
for the future applications are strong points of the systems we design and build.
Technical Expertise and Capabilities::

The coating system: The Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) sputtering system we use for
development of coatings is designed and built at Teknoplazma. The system has two planar
magnetrons that create unbalanced magnetic field lines. It is a medium size system ; its
diameter and length are 35 and 65 cm, respectively. The system is pumped down to 2x 10–6
mbar with a diffusion pump backed up with a mechanical pump. Having built a versatile
system enables us to deposit several types of graded , multilayered of nitride, carbonitride
and carbon based coatings.

Coatings: We have developed two major types of coatings: Wear resistant ceramic coatings
and corrosion resistant metallic coatings.:

Wear resistant coatings exhibit ceramic properties; they have high hardness values and low a
coefficient of friction, therefore, they are scratch and abrasive wear resistant. These coatings
are mainly applied to tools used in chip forming operations (drill bits, milling tools, tabs,
inserts, etc.), in chipless forming operations (for moulds used in forging, cutting, bending,
piercing, material injection, etc.) or in tribological systems (gears, bearings, bushings, or other
sliding surfaces). They are used ın thse applications since they exhibit the following
improvements: high hardness, different toughness values, high oxidation temperatures, less
friction, better thermal stability etc. The most known and used coating is Titanium Nitride
(TiN) due to its wide range of properties as well as its attractive golden color. Coatings like
Titanium Carbo Nitride (TiCN), Titanium Aluminum Nitride (TiAlN), Chromium Nitride
(CrN), Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) can be routinel deposited. Depending on applications these
coatings can be offered as graded, monolayers or multilayers. Furthermore, we have also
developed ATEKTM coatings which are carbon based and known as diamond like carbon
coatings. ATEKTM deserves a special attention due to its very unique properties. They are very
smooth with most properties approaching those of natural diamond such as high hardness,
low coefficient of friction, good visible and infrared transparency and chemical inertness.
Thin (1500 Angstroms) DLC films are being used as abrasion resistant coatings on infrared
optics and optical products such as eyeglasses, sunglasses, and scanner windows. It is
expected that DLC films will have extensive applications in the semiconductor packaging
industry because of diamond’s high thermal conductivity ( about 5 times that of copper) and
high electrical resistivity. Diamond can also be used as cold cathode electron emitter and as
such is of interest in the flat panel display industry.
Corrosion resistant metallic coatings such as Al, Cr, Ni, Ti, Cu are coated to improve the
corrosion resistant properties of base materials. These coatings are also used to protect
electronique systems against Electro Magnetic and Radio Frequency Interferences (EMI and
RFI)

Coating Evaluation: For each coating deposition, coating evaluation is done on samples which
are polished HSS discs. Coating evaluation includes thickness, hardness and adhesion
measurements of coatings.

Thickness measurements: Thickness of coatings are done by using a Calotest instrument

which is a spherical abrasion method. A ball having an abrasive slurry such as diamond, is
rotated on the coated part whose coating thickness to be measured. Thickness of coatings can
be estimated geometrically from a crater that is formed as a result of abrasion with diamond
slurry.
Hardness measurements: The hardness measurements are carried out using a Nanohardness
Tester in which low loads, 1- 300 mN are applied onto the sample and hardness is calculated
from dynamic loading. Vickers indenters are used. During measurements, the maximum depth of
penetration of the indenter is limited to 10% of the total coating thickness in order to
eliminate the substrate influence. For each loading / unloading cycle, the applied load value is
plotted with respect to the corresponding position of the indenter. The resulting load /
displacement curves provide both hardness and modulus data specific to the mechanical
nature of the coating under examination. The hardness values of 1500 - 4000 HV are routinely
obtained depending upon the coating type.

Adhesion measurements: To assess the adhesion quality of coatings to substrates Rockwell C

indentations are done. Further tests in order to determine both cohesive and adhesive strength
of the coatings are done by employing a scratch tester. This method consists of introducing
stresses at the interface between coating and substrate. This is achieved by pressing a diamond
stylus on the sample with a normal load. As the sample is displaced at constant speed, the
resulting stresses at the interface cause flaking or chipping of the coating. The minimum load
at which a specific failure is recorded is called the critical load, thus lower and upper critiacl
loads are determined indicating cohesive and adhesive strength of coatings, respectively. In
this method, tangential force variations, acoustic emission fluctuations, microscopic
deformations as well as coefficient of friction of coatings against diamond are obtained.

In addition to these in house coating evaluation capabilities, Teknoplazma has an access to

instruments such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X – Ray Diffractometer (XRD)
etc. at METU for further investigations.

Designing / Building of Thin Film Growth Systems: As mentioned earlier Teknoplazma is

not a company that develops only coatings and thin films. The company’s vision is to create
its own coating and thin film technologies together with coatings. We, therefore, make our
own coating sytems and recently started making thin film growth sytems for end users. The
first commercial system we manufacture is for a MEMS R&D lab of the Sabancı University
in Tuzla-Istanbul. This system is a magnetron sputtering system having a main deposition
chamber with three magnetrons as well as a load lock chamber which will enable users to
make quick runs without breaking vacuum. Metallic, ceramic and reactive thin films will be
done in the same systems due to versatility of its unique design. All operations like pumping,
heating, thin film growth, gas introduction etc. are done automatically with a PC.
Teknoplazma will give technical assistance to the Sabancı University in growth and
characterization of thin films. It is also our intention to colloborate with the European
company that has provided the RIE unit to the MEMS R&D lab. At this university.

CONCLUSION

Teknoplazma has made a big difference in the area of thin film growth/systems by creating its
own technology in Turkey within a relatively short period of time. First, the founders have
convinced the venture Capital company to invest in Teknoplazma. A solid financial support
together with a strong technical background has immediately put Teknoplazma up front. Later
on, it has become a leading company with its coatings and now is doing the same thing with
thin film coating systems. We aim to share our knowledge, expertise and capabilities with
EU member countries to extend our business activities throughout the world.
We envisage the following forms of cooperative activities in the field of KEY ACTION 4
topics:

 comparable opportunities for Teknoplazma together with EU member entities to

participate in programs with extensive exchange of information,
 to participate in match maker organizations: Leading to joint venture business
opportunities with EU member countries,
 Introduction to Joint Venture capital firms to form financial alliances
 reinforced cooperation,
 coordinated calls for proposals and conferences,
 joint organisation of scientific seminars, conferences, symposia, workshops;
 support for the training of scientists, engineers, and technical experts.