Over the last few years we’ve noticed a number of spectacular initiatives the place folks attempt to manufacture built-in circuits the usage of hobbyist gear. One of the advanced portions of this procedure is lithography: the step wherein shapes are drawn onto a silicon wafer. There are a number of tactics to do that, they all slightly sophisticated, however [Zachary Tong] over at Breaking Faucets has controlled to make one among them paintings slightly smartly. He stocks the result of his electron-beam lithography experiments in his newest video (embedded under).
In e-beam lithography, or EBL, shapes are drawn onto a wafer the usage of an electron beam in a vacuum chamber. This can be a gradual procedure in comparison to optical lithography, as utilized in mass manufacturing, however it’s relatively easy and really versatile. [Zach] determined to make use of his electron microscope as an e-beam litho system; even if now not designed for lithography, it has the similar elementary elements as an actual EBL system and will act as an alternative with just a little of instrument tweaking.
Step one is to coat a wafer with a layer of e-beam withstand. [Zach] used PMMA, usually referred to as acrylic plastic, and carried out it the usage of spin coating after dissolving it in anisole. He then positioned the wafer into the electron microscope and used it to scan a picture. The picture used to be then evolved by means of rinsing the wafer in chilly isopropyl alcohol.
[Zach] explains the entire procedure intimately in his video, together with how he tuned all of the parameters like withstand thickness, beam energy, publicity time and building time, in addition to the instrument tips had to convince the microscope to serve as as a litho system. In his very best runs he controlled to attract traces with a width of about 100 nanometers, which is critically spectacular for this sort of somewhat easy setup.
Those e-beam lithography experiments apply on from [Zach]’s previous analysis the usage of lasers. Homebrew IC professional Sam Zeloof has extensively utilized electron beams in his paintings. Thank you for the end, [smellsofbikes]!