VUV microfabrication

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This research has been conducted in order to develop the microfabrication technology using vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) light at 172 nm in wavelength. A Xe excimer lamp was employed as a light source for photofabrication. Since this VUV light has a high photon energy of 7.2 eV, photochemical reactions can be induced various organic material surfaces. Thus, by simply irradiating a material surface through a photomask, the photomask pattern is directly transferred onto the surface without complicated photolithography processes. Furthermore, we have developed a novel photofabrication process, that is. oxygen-amplified VUV microfabrication, In this process, atmospheric oxygen molecules are excited and dissociated to atomic oxygen. These VUV-generated oxygen atoms oxidize a material surface so the an oxidized pattern is formed on the surface. Atomic oxygen is so oxidative that it can oxidize any types of organic materials. Thus, oxidized patterns can be formed on organic material surfaces which has no photosensitivity to 172 nm VUV light, for example, saturated hydrocarbons. By optimizing VUV patterning conditions, we have succeeded in fabricating 0.5 μm-class fine patterns.