Charged particle beam masking for laser ablation micromachining
AssigneeFEI Company
InventorsMarcus Straw, Milos Toth, Steven Randolph, Michael Lysaght, Mark Utlaut
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved method for substrate micromachining. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide improved methods for the utilization of charged particle beam masking and laser ablation. A combination of the advantages of charged particle beam mask fabrication and ultra short pulse laser ablation are used to significantly reduce substrate processing time and improve lateral resolution and aspect ratio of features machined by laser ablation to preferably smaller than the diffraction limit of the machining laser.
Claims21
A method of forming a microscopic or nanoscopic structure on a substrate using a laser beam, the laser having a spot size, comprising:
- depositing a mask pattern on the substrate using charged particle beam-assisted deposition, the charged particle beam having a sub-micron spot size and the mask protecting portions of the substrate that are covered by the mask;
- and
- directing an ultra-fast pulsed laser beam toward the substrate surface, the laser beam having a spot size that is larger than the spot size of the charged particle beam, the laser beam processing a portion of the substrate that is not covered by the mask to produce features in the substrate, the features produced in the substrate having a dimension smaller than the laser spot size.
A system for fabricating microscopic structures at a substrate surface, comprising:
- a charged particle system, including
- a source of charged particles;
- a focusing column for forming a beam of charged particles from the source of charged particles and for focusing and scanning the beam of charged particles onto the substrate surface;
- and
- a gas injection system for supplying a precursor gas that reacts in the presence of the charged particles beam;
- an ultrafast pulsed laser column;
- and
- a computer programmed to direct the charged particle beam in the presence of the precursor gas in a pattern to form a mask on the substrate surface and to direct the laser beam to process unmasked areas of the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.