Lecture

Nanofabrication: Techniques and Challenges

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

Description

This lecture covers the basics of nanofabrication, including top-down and bottom-up approaches, deposition, implantation, etching, lithography, and the challenges faced due to the diversity of techniques and backgrounds. The instructor also discusses the use of silicon wafers, the Czochralski method, and the trend of increasing wafer diameter.

Official source

Related concepts (27)

Wafer (electronics)

In electronics, a wafer (also called a slice or substrate) is a thin slice of semiconductor, such as a crystalline silicon (c-Si), used for the fabrication of integrated circuits and, in photovoltaics, to manufacture solar cells. The wafer serves as the substrate for microelectronic devices built in and upon the wafer. It undergoes many microfabrication processes, such as doping, ion implantation, etching, thin-film deposition of various materials, and photolithographic patterning.

Vacuum deposition

Vacuum deposition , also known as vacuum coating or thin-film deposition, is a group of processes used to deposit layers of material atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule on a solid surface. These processes operate at pressures well below atmospheric pressure (i.e., vacuum). The deposited layers can range from a thickness of one atom up to millimeters, forming freestanding structures. Multiple layers of different materials can be used, for example to form optical coatings.

Physical vapor deposition

Physical vapor deposition (PVD), sometimes called physical vapor transport (PVT), describes a variety of vacuum deposition methods which can be used to produce thin films and coatings on substrates including metals, ceramics, glass, and polymers. PVD is characterized by a process in which the material transitions from a condensed phase to a vapor phase and then back to a thin film condensed phase. The most common PVD processes are sputtering and evaporation.

Evaporation (deposition)

Evaporation is a common method of thin-film deposition. The source material is evaporated in a vacuum. The vacuum allows vapor particles to travel directly to the target object (substrate), where they condense back to a solid state. Evaporation is used in microfabrication, and to make macro-scale products such as metallized plastic film. Evaporation involves two basic processes: a hot source material evaporates and condenses on the substrate. It resembles the familiar process by which liquid water appears on the lid of a boiling pot.

Chemical vapor deposition

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In typical CVD, the wafer (substrate) is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired deposit. Frequently, volatile by-products are also produced, which are removed by gas flow through the reaction chamber.

Related lectures (45)

Micro and Nanofabrication: Basics and Techniques MOOC: Micro and Nanofabrication (MEMS)

Covers the basics of micro and nano fabrication techniques for MEMS devices.

Micro and Nanofabrication for Optomechanics

Explores the importance of micro- and nanofabrication in optomechanics, covering key processes and challenges in device fabrication.

Lithography: Tools and Techniques MOOC: Micro and Nanofabrication (MEMS)

Covers the principles and tools used in lithography for micro and nanofabrication.

Lithography: Microfabrication Technologies

Explores lithography in microfabrication technologies, covering thin film deposition, print resolution, process flow, and limitations imposed by diffraction.

Physical Vapor Deposition: Basics and Applications MOOC: Micro and Nanofabrication (MEMS)