durusmail: mems-talk: Gold on SU-8
Gold on SU-8
Wet etch chemistry for evaporated titanium
2007-02-27
Wet etching Gold
Gold on SU-8
Yue Mun Pun, Jeffrey
2007-03-05
Kevin,
Apart form using Ti as an adhesion layer, I am also using Ti as a layer =
to block underlying uncrosslinked SU-8 from being exposed to UV during =
subsequent photolithography steps after the Ti layer has been deposited. =
 It has been reported that uncrosslinked SU-8 has been done before and =
the blocking metal layer was at least 25nm of Chromium.  Here I am using =
Titanium as a blocking layer as Ti is biocompatible, whereas Chromium =
has been known to inhibit Polymerase Chain Reaction.
Jeffrey

________________________________

From: mems-talk-bounces@memsnet.org on behalf of Kevin Paul Nichols
Sent: Mon 2/26/2007 9:33 PM
To: General MEMS discussion
Subject: Re: [mems-talk] Gold on SU-8

If what you really need is an adhesion layer for SU-8 and Au without=20
resorting to Ti or Cr, you should look at "Investigation of the bond=20
strength between the photo-sensitive polymer SU-8 and gold" where=20
Nordstr=F6m et al report using 4-aminothiolphenol (4-ATP) as a good=20
adhesion layer for SU-8/Au. In short, the amine on 4-ATP reacts with=20
the SU-8's epoxy, and the thiol bonds to the Au.

They also list a few other iterations that they had luck with. It's a=20
good, comprehensive paper on the subject.

The link is here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V0W-4F5S6C5-7/2/e59903c5e0=
903d82c14a43c5cbb36c38

Regarding your process overall though:

1) With the Cr/Ti adhesion layers, you only need 10 - 20 nm for good=20
adhesion. This should take about 5 minutes (at most) on most=20
equipment (evaporation or sputtering). I don't think this should=20
really be a problem.

2) Regarding omnicoat, don't use this if you want to make a=20
"sandwich." Unless your Au layer is unpatterned, it will give you=20
issues when you try to adhere SU-8 to SU-8.

3) Au adhesion on SU-8 isn't great, but if you're careful you can=20
still pattern it (just be sure to build in a margin for=20
undercutting). And, if you have it in a "sandwich," it should be=20
secure enough in most cases. I honestly doubt you'll need an adhesion=20
layer at all.
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