Lisen,

I have evaporated aluminum onto PMMA substrates. I
tried some metals with higher melting points such as
copper, but then ran into heat induced problems from
the radiation. I also had ECR PECVD nitride films
deposited onto the substrate, but ran into thermal
match problems. The contamination issue really depends
on the level of cleanliness of your tool. PMMA tends
to outgas and takes a long time for the vacuum to
equilibrate (and could lead to some contamination of
the chamber).

E-beam evaps tend to be cleaner systems than thermal
evaps.  If you are allowed to put photoresist into a
tool for lift off, then the polymer should be ok.

Of course I have no idea what polymer you are using so
I cannot say for sure.

Cleaning of the polymer is more difficult since you
cannot use pirahna or organic solvents on many
polymers. I would suggest a thorough rinse in alcohols
(MEOH, isopropanol) and a long DI water clean up to
resistivity and maybe even an oxygen clean. However,
the polymer may "soak up" the solvents and
contaminants like a sponge and therefore even if the
surface is clean it still may introduce contaminants
into your equipment.  Again, this really depends on
the level of cleanliness of your equipment.

Regards,

Jeff

--- Robert Dean  wrote:
> Lisen,
>
> Hello.  I use liquid crystal polymer (LCP)
> substrates in my research, and I
> sputter aluminum on them without any thermal
> problems.  LCP is resistant to
> many chemicals, including piranha etch.  Oxygen
> plasma RIE will etch LCP
> though.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Robert Dean
> Auburn University.
>
> At 11:08 PM 8/13/02 -0700, you wrote:
> >Dear MEMS community:
> >
> >I want to put gold on some plastic substrate by
> >evaporation, either thermal or e-beam. Does any one
> >know which kind of plastic can survive for this
> >application. BTW, how to clean plastic wafers?
> >Any comments is appreciated.
> >
> >Lisen
> >HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs
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