Plasma-Assisted Net-Shape Deposition for Microfabrication

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Exploratory studies will be conducted for the development of novel micro plasma reactors that are less than a millimeter in size, for the deposition of metals, dielectric materials, or polymers for microfabrication. An intense plasma ball of less than a few hundred microns diameter can be generated under atmospheric pressure between a microelectrode and a counter electrode under suitable conditions. Such a plasma ball is self-sustaining and is of 'cold' type similar to the high vacuum plasma sources used in microchip manufacturing. Based on this micro plasma ball, a radically different method of microfabrication - plasma-assisted net-shape deposition (PAND) - is proposed. With the PAND method, the deposition will be carried out under atmospheric pressure to eliminate the costly high vacuum equipment. Also, the net shape of the desired feature is 'printed' at the substrate surface directly thereby eliminating the time-consuming and capital-intensive photolithography. The proposed one-year project also addresses the fundamental mechanisms affecting the design and operation of the PAND reactors. Since the experimental characterization of the atmospheric pressure micro-plasma discharge is a challenging task, comprehensive process modeling is proposed to understand the inherent physics and chemistry of the system. Innovative modeling strategies will be used to simulate the unique discharge ('cold' atmospheric pressure micro-plasma) addressed here. A high-resolution discharge physics model will be developed for the reactor to examine the effects of various process parameters on the ionization and dissociation characteristics of the feed gases. The results from numerical computations and laboratory measurements will help in characterizing the 'cold' atmospheric pressure micro-plasma.