title: 100 mm dynamic stencils pattern sub-micrometre structures.
abstract: Dynamic stencil lithography uses a moving shadow-mask to draw patterns by having directionally evaporated material deposited through the stencil apertures onto the substrate. Sub-micrometre, two-dimensional patterning is demonstrated at full 100 mm wafer scale, with two examples emphasizing this technique's unique features. Structures having a width-modulated height below a certain aperture size are fabricated by moving the stencil according to a two-dimensional trajectory. Variable-period gratings are obtained by translating a row of apertures at different orientations with respect to the row's axis. Despite the long deposition sequences one could envision for a stencil in dynamic mode, the apertures' active life-time in the sub-micrometre domain remains limited by the material's accretion on the membrane, resulting in the eventual clogging of the openings. A novel solution to this problem containing a micro-heater embedded in the membrane is described and its effectiveness in preventing material from clogging the apertures is demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: EPFL, BM 3.202, Station 17, Lausanne, Switzerland. veronica.savu@epfl.ch
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Savu
authors.forename: Shenqi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brugger
mesh_terms: D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D036103:Nanotechnology; D017655:Silicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D017655:Silicon Compounds; C032734:silicon nitride