ERC Pioneers Deep Wet Etching Process for Use in Semiconductor Production
Outcome/Accomplishment
A research team at the Nanomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing and Mobile Energy Technologies (NASCENT) center, an NSF-funded Nanosystems Engineering Research Center (NERC) headquartered at The University of Texas at Austin, has developed a new deep wet etching process that could lead to higher quality semiconductor production at lower cost.
Impact/Benefits
The process of metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) shows promise for the semiconductor industry because it produces deep, high-quality grooves at relatively low cost. The process developed by the Center removed a significant barrier to the adoption of MACE for the fabrication of 3D semiconductor devices and biodevices.
Explanation/Background
Wet chemical etching is considered a cost-effective method for producing semiconductors, but the current process reduces the resolution of the etched pattern. MACE is a relatively new wet etching technology, producing high-quality patterns using gold as a metal catalyst. However, gold is not compatible with the semiconductor technology that is used to construct integrated circuit chips, including microprocessors, memory chips, and other digital logic circuits.
The NSF-funded research team developed a MACE process using the metal ruthenium with results that are comparable in quality to gold. The team also made significant progress toward developing a MACE fabrication system that is compatible with current semiconductor production technology.
Location
Austin, Texaswebsite
Start Year
Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced Manufacturing
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Outcome/Accomplishment
A research team at the Nanomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing and Mobile Energy Technologies (NASCENT) center, an NSF-funded Nanosystems Engineering Research Center (NERC) headquartered at The University of Texas at Austin, has developed a new deep wet etching process that could lead to higher quality semiconductor production at lower cost.
Location
Austin, Texaswebsite
Start Year
Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced Manufacturing
Lead Institution
Core Partners
Fact Sheet
Impact/benefits
The process of metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) shows promise for the semiconductor industry because it produces deep, high-quality grooves at relatively low cost. The process developed by the Center removed a significant barrier to the adoption of MACE for the fabrication of 3D semiconductor devices and biodevices.
Explanation/Background
Wet chemical etching is considered a cost-effective method for producing semiconductors, but the current process reduces the resolution of the etched pattern. MACE is a relatively new wet etching technology, producing high-quality patterns using gold as a metal catalyst. However, gold is not compatible with the semiconductor technology that is used to construct integrated circuit chips, including microprocessors, memory chips, and other digital logic circuits.
The NSF-funded research team developed a MACE process using the metal ruthenium with results that are comparable in quality to gold. The team also made significant progress toward developing a MACE fabrication system that is compatible with current semiconductor production technology.