Figure 3
From: Electrolithography- A New and Versatile Process for Nano Patterning
Important steps of the standard electrolithography process.
(a) Electromigration driven metal etching by a traversing probe: As the negatively biased tip moves, the Cr compound formed below the cathode melts and flows away from the path creating a groove along the path traversed. The dashed arrow shows the direction in which the tip is traversed. (b) Process flow of the standard electrolithography technique: The process starts with a substrate spin-coated with a polymer followed by the deposition of a top layer of Cr thin film. (1) In the first step, the top Cr layer is etched in the desired pattern using electromigration. (2) Next, the polymer is etched in the patterned region by dipping it in an appropriate solvent. The inset shows the zoomed view of the trench made in the polymer. (3) Subsequently, the desired material is deposited and (4) lift-off is used to transfer the final pattern on the desired material.
