CN110146726B

CN110146726B - Method for controlling temperature of probe

Info

Publication number: CN110146726B
Application number: CN201910427559.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨晓峰; 胡绘钧
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2019-05-22
Filing date: 2019-05-22
Publication date: 2022-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 2039-05-22
Also published as: CN110146726A

Abstract

A method for controlling the temperature of a probe is disclosed. The probe includes a cantilever portion, a tip, and a controller. The tip is located at an end of the cantilever portion and protrudes from the cantilever portion. The tip includes a base, a needle tip portion, and a plurality of support arms extending from the base, each support arm connected to the needle tip portion at an end remote from the base. A plurality of electrodes are arranged in the base and comprise heating electrodes and sensing electrodes. The method can perform maskless patterning of the passivation layer by accurately controlling the temperature of the probe, and has the advantages of high efficiency, high speed, low cost and simplified process.

Description

Method for controlling temperature of probe

Technical Field

The invention relates to patterning on a passivation layer of a substrate material, in particular to a method for controlling the temperature of a probe for forming a three-dimensional patterned structure on the passivation layer of the substrate material.

Background

With the rapid development of microelectronic processes, the difficulty of miniaturization development of devices is increasing. Due to the wide application of three-dimensional nanostructures, the construction of three-dimensional devices is also an important way to improve the integration of devices.

At present, the common methods for preparing three-dimensional structures mainly include two-photon interference exposure processes, laser interference exposure processes, gray scale exposure processes, ion beam etching processes and deposition processes. However, these processes all have various defects, for example, when a three-dimensional pattern is prepared by a two-photon interference exposure process or a laser interference exposure process, the size of the pattern is greatly affected by the size of a light spot, and the minimum size of the prepared three-dimensional pattern is in the micron or submicron order, so that it is difficult to achieve the nanometer scale precision.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method for fabricating a three-dimensional micro-nano structure or pattern, and particularly for a high-precision maskless patterning method, which replaces the conventional photolithography technique using a patterned mask. The method realizes the direct writing and the operation of high-precision two-dimensional or three-dimensional micro-nano structure graphs and is used for preparing three-dimensional micro-nano functional structures and devices.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a probe temperature control method for preparing a three-dimensional graph structure on a passivation layer of a substrate material, which is used for carrying out high-precision material vaporization on a graph target by heating a scanning probe to a required temperature. The probe moves along the plane of the substrate or forms a certain included angle to form a three-dimensional structure, so that the preparation of the three-dimensional structure is realized in the real sense, and a new technology is provided for the processing of three-dimensional devices. In addition, because the passivation material is vaporized by the probe scanning, the probe has small motion resistance, and can realize high-precision motion control, thereby forming a three-dimensional structure with micro-nano-scale dimensional precision by the method.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for controlling a temperature of a probe, the probe including: a cantilever portion; a tip located at an end of the cantilever portion and protruding from the cantilever portion; and a controller; wherein the tip comprises a base, a needle tip portion, and a plurality of support arms extending from the base, each support arm connected to the needle tip portion at an end distal from the base; wherein a plurality of electrodes are arranged in the base, and the plurality of electrodes comprise a heating electrode and a sensing electrode;

the method comprises the following steps:

heating the tip by the heating electrode;

sensing a temperature of the tip by the sensing electrode;

comparing, by the controller, the temperature measured by the sensing electrode with a predetermined temperature, and adjusting the heating electrode according to the comparison result.

In a preferred embodiment, adjusting the heating electrode comprises reducing the power to the heating electrode when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is above the predetermined temperature; and increasing the power of the heating electrode when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is lower than the predetermined temperature.

In a preferred embodiment, adjusting the heating electrode includes stopping operation of the heating electrode when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is higher than the predetermined temperature; and when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is lower than the preset temperature, the operation of the heating electrode is started.

In a preferred embodiment, the heater electrode comprises a plurality of heater electrodes, and adjusting the heater electrode comprises decreasing the number of heater electrodes that are in operation when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is above the predetermined temperature; and when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is lower than the predetermined temperature, the number of the heating electrodes that are in operation is reduced.

In a preferred embodiment, adjusting the heating electrodes comprises selecting a different heating electrode combination to reduce or increase the total power of the heating electrodes being operated when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is above or below the predetermined temperature.

In a preferred embodiment, a wire is provided in the support arm for connecting the plurality of electrodes to the needle tip portion.

According to the method, the temperature of the probe is accurately controlled, so that maskless patterning of the passivation layer can be performed, the method is efficient and rapid, the cost is low, and the process is simplified; the size precision of the formed structure can reach micro-nano level; not only a two-dimensional structure but also a three-dimensional structure can be formed.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a substrate material using a method according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the substrate material shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a probe over a passivation layer of substrate material;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a two-dimensional pattern formed by a probe on a passivation layer of a substrate material;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional pattern formed on a passivation layer of a substrate material by a probe;

FIG. 6A is a schematic view of a probe, and FIG. 6B is an enlarged schematic view of a probe tip;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a passivation layer of a substrate material being an oxide layer;

FIG. 8 is a composite structure of a passivation layer of a substrate material with a photoresist on an oxide layer;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a support arm of the probe;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the support arm of the probe;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the support arm of the probe;

figure 12 is a schematic view of a fourth embodiment of the support arm of the probe.

Detailed Description

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the objects, features and advantages of the invention can be more clearly understood. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but are merely intended to illustrate the spirit of the technical solution of the present invention.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various disclosed embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details. In other instances, well-known devices, structures and techniques associated with this application may not be shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

Throughout the specification and claims, the word "comprise" and variations thereof, such as "comprises" and "comprising," are to be understood as an open, inclusive meaning, i.e., as being interpreted to mean "including, but not limited to," unless the context requires otherwise.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be noted that the term "or" is generally employed in its sense including "and/or" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the following description, for the purposes of clearly illustrating the structure and operation of the present invention, directional terms will be used, but terms such as "front", "rear", "left", "right", "outer", "inner", "outer", "inward", "upper", "lower", etc. should be construed as words of convenience and should not be construed as limiting terms.

The invention relates to a method for forming a three-dimensional pattern structure on a passivation layer of a substrate material. Referring to fig. 1, various substrate materials, such as substrate material 1 and substrate material 2, are shown that can be used with the method of the present invention, and are placed on a stage 3. The substrate material 2 is shown in fig. 1 as being square and circular, but it is understood that the substrate material 2 may also be rectangular, oval, or other irregular shapes. The substrate material 2 may be a silicon wafer, a glass wafer, a ceramic wafer, or the like. Fig. 2 shows a side view thereof. The passivation layer 5 is first prepared on a clean substrate material, such as the substrate material 2. Preferably, the substrate material 2 is cleaned prior to the preparation of the passivation layer 5. The specific cleaning method and cleaning step are selected according to the material of the substrate material 2. For example, in the case where the substrate material 2 is a silicon wafer, the cleaning step includes heating, boiling, rinsing. Surface impurities, oxides or other impurities not of the substrate material 2 are removed to prevent the surface impurities, oxides or other impurities not of the substrate material 2 from affecting the formation of the passivation layer 5 and the compactness, robustness, corrosion resistance and etching resistance of the formed passivation layer 5. The passivation layer 5 is prepared after the cleaning is completed. The passivation layer 5 may be formed by oxidation, vapor deposition, coating, or the like. The passivation layer 5 may be a single layer, such as a photoresist layer, or a silicon oxide, silicon nitride or metal layer, or may be a composite layer, such as a composite layer with a photoresist on the silicon oxide, silicon nitride or metal layer. When the composite layer is used, a photoresist is preferably coated on the silicon oxide, silicon nitride or metal layer thereunder by means of spin coating. The coating method is convenient and fast, and the photoresist layer 13 formed by coating has good uniformity. In particular, different passivation layers may be selected as desired.

Next, a probe 4 is provided, the probe 4 including a cantilever portion 41 and a tip 42 located at an end of the cantilever portion 41 and protruding from the cantilever portion 41, as shown in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 3, the probe 4 for scanning vaporization is placed above the passivation layer 5 of the substrate material 2, and then the tip 42 of the probe 4 is brought close to the passivation layer 5.

The probe 4, and in particular the tip 42 of the probe 4, is then heated to a temperature at which the passivation layer 5 can be vaporized. In particular, the tip 42 is heated to a temperature at which the material of the upper surface of the passivation layer 5 can vaporize. The heating temperature is also different for passivation layers of different structures, for example, 200-500 deg.C, more typically 300-400 deg.C in the case of a photoresist layer as the passivation layer 5. And in case the passivation layer 5 is a metal layer, the heating temperature may be up to 1000 deg.c.

When the tip 42 of the probe 4 is heated to a temperature that enables vaporization of the passivation layer 5, the probe 4, in particular the tip 42, is moved over the passivation layer 5. The movement of the tip 42 over the passivation layer 5 is carried out in a manner similar to a scanning movement, which is carried out by the control system according to a predetermined three-dimensional pattern. The control system can receive drawing input and convert the drawing input into corresponding action signals, so that the probe is guided to perform scanning movement. Where the tip 42 scans past, the passivation layer 5 vaporizes, thereby forming a three-dimensional pattern on the passivation layer 5. Specifically, the tip 42 is moved to a predetermined vertical position in the passivation layer 5, and is horizontally moved in a horizontal plane in which the vertical position is located. After performing the scanning movement in the horizontal plane of one vertical position, the tip 42 is moved to the next vertical position and horizontally moved in the horizontal plane where the next vertical position is located, and so on until a predetermined three-dimensional pattern is formed on the passivation layer 5. Since there is little resistance to movement of the tip 42, the distance between the tip 42 from one vertical position to the next can be up to 1 nanometer with precise control.

The two-dimensional pattern (see fig. 4) and the three-dimensional pattern (see fig. 5) can be formed on the passivation layer 5 by the above-described method. Here, the two-dimensional pattern means that the formed pattern has the same cross section at different vertical positions, and the three-dimensional pattern means that the formed pattern has different cross sections at different vertical positions.

After forming the three-dimensional pattern on the passivation layer 5, the substrate material 2 with the patterned passivation layer 5 is put into a chemical solution that can etch the passivation layer 5, and the passivation layer 5 is removed. In the case where the passivation layer 5 is a composite layer formed of a photoresist layer and a silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or metal layer, the photoresist layer is removed first, and then the silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or metal layer is removed. And then processing the substrate material by utilizing subsequent processes, such as a diffusion process, a thin film process, a sacrificial layer process, an interconnection process, a wet etching process, a dry etching process, an evaporation process, a sputtering process and the like, so as to form a three-dimensional nano structure or a pattern on the substrate material.

As described above, the probe 4 includes the cantilever portion 41 and the tip 42 located at the end of the cantilever portion 41 and protruding from the cantilever portion 41. An enlarged view of the tip 42 is also shown in fig. 6B. The tip 42 includes a base 421, the base 421 being formed integrally with the cantilever portion 41 or fixedly connected to the cantilever portion 41. A plurality of electrodes 425 are provided in the base 421. Each support arm 423 extends from the base 421 and connects to the needle tip 422 at an end remote from the base 421. The support arm 422 is made of a high temperature resistant material. A wire may be provided inside the support arm 422 for connecting the needle tip portion 422 to an electrode in the base 421. Preferably, the support arm 422 has a curved shape, thereby preventing the support arm 422 from being broken due to touch or high temperature. The plurality of electrodes 425 includes a plurality of heating electrodes and at least one temperature-sensitive electrode. The tip 42 is heated to a desired predetermined temperature by the respective heating electrodes. The temperature sensing electrode is for sensing the temperature of the tip 42. The sensing electrode may be, for example, a thermistor, and the temperature of the sensing electrode is determined by measuring the resistance as a function of temperature.

The temperature control of the tip 42 is achieved by a controller, such as PID control (proportional-integral-derivative control). The probe 4 is provided with a controller which measures the temperature of the tip 42 by sensing the electrodes and compares the measured temperature with a predetermined temperature, and when the difference between the measured temperature and the predetermined temperature reaches a certain value, adjusts the temperature of the tip 42 by increasing or decreasing the number of heating electrodes to be operated, increasing or decreasing the power of the heating electrodes, and starting or stopping the operation of each heating electrode. Where the individual heating electrodes are powered differently, different combinations of heating electrodes may also be selected as desired to reduce or increase the total power of the heating electrodes being operated to regulate the temperature of the tip 42.

The structure for accurately positioning the probe 2 is shown in fig. 9-12. Specifically, as shown in fig. 9, the probe 4 is supported by a holder 6. The support 6 may be configured in any configuration capable of supporting the cantilever portion of the probe 4. In the illustrated embodiment, the support 6 is a generally vertically extending support rod. One end of the boom portion is fixed to the bracket 6 and extends horizontally from the bracket 6, and a tip 42 is provided at the end of the boom portion remote from the bracket 6. In this embodiment, the cantilever portion includes a cantilever support portion 412 and a cantilever drive portion 413. The end of the cantilever drive 413 remote from the support 6 is provided with a tip 42. The cantilever driving part 413 and the cantilever supporting part 412 are closely adjacent to and spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction. As shown in fig. 7, an electromagnetic piece 416 is provided on the lower side of the cantilever support portion 412, and an electromagnetic piece 71 is provided on the upper side of the cantilever drive portion 413 provided below the cantilever support portion 412 at a position corresponding to the electromagnetic piece 416. When it is necessary to move the cantilever support 412 downward to move the tip 42 downward, the

electromagnetic pieces

416 and 71 are energized to have opposite polarities, and the cantilever support 412 is moved downward by the attraction force between the

electromagnetic pieces

416 and 71, thereby moving the tip 42 downward. When it is necessary to move the cantilever support 412 upward to move the tip 42 upward, the

electromagnetic pieces

416 and 71 are energized to have the same magnetism, and the cantilever support 412 is moved upward by the repulsive force between the

electromagnetic pieces

416 and 71, thereby moving the tip 42 upward. In the illustrated embodiment, the cantilever driving part 413 is disposed below the cantilever support part 412, but it is understood that the cantilever driving part 413 may be disposed above the cantilever support part 412. In this case, the

electromagnet pieces

416 and 71 are disposed at positions opposite to each other on the upper side of the cantilever support portion 412 and on the lower side of the cantilever drive portion 413.

In addition, more than one set of electromagnetic sheets may be provided on the cantilever support portion 412 and the cantilever drive portion 413. For example, as shown in fig. 10, three sets of electromagnet pieces are provided on the upper side of the arm support portion 412 and on the lower side of the arm drive portion 413, respectively.

Further, it is also understood that one of each set of

electromagnet pieces

416 and 71 may be provided as a permanent magnet piece, while the other is an electromagnet piece.

The displacement of the tip 42 in the vertical direction is realized by adopting the above manner, and the magnitude of the attractive force or repulsive force between the cantilever supporting part 412 and the cantilever driving part 413 can be adjusted by precisely adjusting the current to the electromagnetic sheet, so that the displacement precision of the tip 42 in the vertical direction can be remarkably improved and even can reach 1 nanometer.

Fig. 11 shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, one strain section 417 is provided on the cantilever portion along its length. The strain section 417 is made of a multi-layer composite material. Each layer in the multilayer composite material has different thermal expansion coefficients, and when the temperature changes, each layer of material expands or contracts and deforms to different degrees. For example, the strain section 417 may be compounded from two different material layers. By controlling the temperature of the strain section 417, the strain section 417 is bent upward or downward, thereby moving the cantilever portion upward or downward as a whole, and further moving the tip 42 upward or downward. In addition, more than one strain section 417 may be provided on the cantilever portion. As shown for example in fig. 12, three strain sections 417 are provided on the cantilever portion.

By implementing the displacement of the tip 42 in the vertical direction in the above manner, the bending of the strain section 417 can be controlled by controlling the temperature change of the strain section 417 accurately, so that the displacement accuracy of the tip 42 in the vertical direction can be significantly improved, even up to 1 nm.

The above embodiments show embodiments using electromagnetic plates and strain sections to achieve vertical movement of the tip 42 on the cantilever portion. It should be understood that the electromagnetic plates and strain sections may be used in combination on the cantilever portion to achieve the upward and downward movements of the cantilever portion.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, it should be understood that aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary, to employ aspects, features and concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above detailed description. In general, in the claims, the terms used should not be construed to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the temperature of a probe, the probe comprising: a cantilever portion; a tip located at an end of the cantilever portion and protruding from the cantilever portion; and a controller; wherein the tip comprises a base, a needle tip portion, and a plurality of support arms extending from the base, each support arm connected to the needle tip portion at an end distal from the base, the support walls being curved in shape; wherein a plurality of electrodes are disposed within the base, the plurality of electrodes including a plurality of heating electrodes and at least one sensing electrode; a lead is arranged in the supporting arm and is connected with the plurality of electrodes in the base and the needle tip part;

the method comprises the following steps:

heating the tip by the heating electrode;

sensing a temperature of the tip by the sensing electrode;

2. The method of claim 1,

adjusting the heating electrode comprises decreasing the power of the heating electrode when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is above the predetermined temperature; and increasing the power of the heating electrode when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is lower than the predetermined temperature.

3. The method of claim 1,

adjusting the heating electrode includes stopping operation of the heating electrode when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is higher than the predetermined temperature; and when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is lower than the preset temperature, the operation of the heating electrode is started.

4. The method of claim 1,

the heater electrode comprises a plurality of heater electrodes, and adjusting the heater electrode comprises decreasing the number of heater electrodes that are in operation when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is above the predetermined temperature; and when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is lower than the predetermined temperature, the number of the heating electrodes that are in operation is reduced.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the heating electrodes comprises selecting a different heating electrode combination to reduce or increase a total power of the heating electrodes being operated when the temperature measured by the sensing motor is above or below the predetermined temperature.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a wire is disposed within the support arm, the wire for connecting the plurality of electrodes to the needle tip portion.