Contact:
Laser Mask Writer
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High Resolution Laser Lithography Tool |
Contact Information: Faculty Contact: Aaron Hawkins Staff Contact: Joe Bussio |
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Mask Writer Information
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Intro, tool description
- The Heidelberg DWL66FS uses a laser exposure system with a 20mm write-head and a 2mm write-head. The time required for an exposure will vary from 1.5 hours to over 60 hours, depending on the size of the design and the minimum feature size. Elementary operations may be done with design layers before conversion. Design conversion and transfer times will also vary from 30 minutes to 10 hours. Multiple aligned exposures are also possible.
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Operation
- Please see the following documents for information on running the Heidelberg:
- Quick guide
System operation guide
Reference manual
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Check Your Mask File
- Click the following link and sign in with your BYU login information for information on connecting to the department's Heidelberg Virtual Machine where you can test your Mask file prior to submitting: https://ecesupport.byu.edu/Help%20Wiki/Heidelberg.aspx.
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Design and Layout Rules
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Design File Requirements
- Format Types:
DXF, CIF, GDSII, and Gerber are all acceptable file formats for the machine to use. We recommend sending the file in GDSII format. Designs can be made and exported in this format from free software packages such as KLayout and LASI. - Design Restrictions: Please refer to the design rules on page 5 of the document provided by Heidelberg Instruments Mikrotechnik: ConversionJobManager.pdf. Each file format has different requirements imposed.
- Format Types:
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Capabilities:
- The 20mm write-head has been shown to have good resolution down to 5μm. The examples photos below show a mask written with the 20mm write-head with a minimum feature size of 6μm. The 20mm write-head may be scheduled anytime that the machine is available.
- The 2mm write-head has not yet had it's capabilities tested. It is significantly slower than the 20mm write-head, with the write speed anywhere from 23 and 31 hours, depending on the physical area to be written. The minimum feature size should be 600nm.
- There is a high quality mode for the 2mm write-head. This mode slows down the exposure significantly. The only benefit to using this write mode is that diagonal lines will be written smoother.
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Design Submission and Approval
- Please contact Joe Bussio for information regarding mask fabrication. A link to the order form is provided below. orderform.xls.
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Completion and Delivery
- The conversion process will include verification of the layer to be printed, selection of write-head, format conversion, and then transfer to the Heidelberg control computer via FTP. A design must be converted to the format specific to each write-head (2mmHQ, 2mm, 20mm) and the final output files are not compatible with any other write-head.
- File conversion and transfer takes approximately 30 minutes for a conversion for the 20mm write-head. The conversion for the 2mm write-head will take about 2 hours, for both normal and high quality. Transfer times for these designs vary from 4 to 10 hours. Conversion and transfer time will be affected by the complexity of the design.
- Each conversion process must be saved as a job with the following naming format: projectName_WriteHead_dd_month_yy.job
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Billing and Cost (Subject to change)
- Current charges are $55.00 per mask. There is no price difference based on the write-head used. Due to the long laser on time, there is a $1.5 per hour charge when using the 2mm and 2mmHQ Head.
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Example images
- Mask written with 20mm write head:
Overview of alignment marks. Slight rounding on upper-left and lower right corners. Image taken with 5x objective.
- Fine alignment marks. Image taken with 10x objective.
- Rough alignment mark. Image taken with 10x objective.
- Features drawn at different angles. Image taken with 20x objective.
- Features drawn at different angles. Image taken with 50x objective.
- Mask written with 20mm write head: