Description

Speed up your research activities by creating your own microstructured surfaces with BioTray's technology!

Specifications

Specifications

All parameters are programmable: Surface Preparation - Photoresist Application - Soft Bake - UV Exposure - Developing - Hard Bake - Wet Etching - Photoresist Removal - Cleaning.
The instrument is equipped with the following setting features: Focus setting takingg into account substrates thickness; Alignement in X,Y-axis and thêta.

The pen vac allows easier handling of wafers. Its suction cup doesn't scratch or damage your sensitive substrates while avoiding contamination of substrates surface. The suction is created by a vacuum pump placed inside the MS 10-100™V2.

The prehensor is an perfluoroelastomer Kalrez^® which resists over 1800 different chemicals while offering the high temperature stability of PTFE (327°C).

The MS 10-100™ V2 uses six sealed cartridges in Hight Density Polyethylene (HDPE) with a capacity of 100 ml, thus minimizing the amount of consumables used.
Furthermore the operator is not in direct contact with the chemicals products, thereby enhancing user security and limiting risk for accidents.
Chemicals products: (HMDS - hexamethyldisilazane; Photoresists; NaOH - sodium hydroxide or TMAH - tetramethylammonium hydroxide...)

Production Process

Every step of this 9-step production process is fully  configurable. Each step can be done several times for specific applications.

Surface Preparation:

he wafer must be chemically cleaned to remove contamination and heated to drive off any moisture.
A liquid "adhesion promoter", such as hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), is applied to promote adhesion of the photoresist to the wafer. The spin coater is use to make a homogeneous coat of this adhesion promoter.

Photoresist Application:

A viscous liquid solution of photoresist is dispensed onto the wafer, and the wafer is spun rapidly to produce a uniformly thick layer thanks to an integrated spin coater. The spin coating can runs from 500 rpm to 6 000 rpm and all parameters can be programmed (speeds, time and even ramps acceleration).

Soft Bake:

The photoresist-coated wafer is then "prebaked" to drive off excess solvent, typically at 60° to 100°C for 5 to 30 minutes

Exposure with the Maskless System:

Our maskless lithography system projects a precise beam directly onto the wafer without using a mask. The laser light used to expose the photoresist is projected from a narrow beam. The laser beam precisely follows the tajectories and the movements of your pattern. The operator just needs to set laser speed and power parameters. Then the direct laser writing operation is automated thanks to the optical scanner system.

Developing:

The photoresist must be removed by a special solution, called "developer". Sometime a post-exposure bake is performed before developing, typically to help reduce standing wave phenomena caused by the destructive and constructive interference patterns of the incident light. Originally developers often contained sodium hydroxide (NaOH) but it's possible to work with a metal-ion-free developers such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH).

Hard Bake:

The resulting wafer is then "hard-baked", typically at 120 to 180°C for 20 to 30 minutes. The hard bake solidifies the remaining photoresist, to make a more durable protecting layer in wet chemical etching.

Wet Etching:

In the etching step, a liquid ("wet") chemical agent removes the uppermost layer of the substrate in the areas that are not protected by photoresist. Wet etching processes are generally isotropic in nature, which is often essential for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), where suspended structures must be "released" from the underlying layer.

Photoresist removal:

After a photoresist is no longer needed, it must be removed from the substrate. This usually requires a liquid "resist stripper", which chemically alters the resist so that it no longer adheres to the substrate.

Cleaning:

Once the photoresist is removed, the substrate must be plunged in a wash buffer in order to remove any residue from the substrate surface. Photo of a microstructured substrate after cleaning. Note the excellent quality of the etching on the edges and bottom of the channels.(Channel depth : 55 μm).

Software

SamLight™: Laser & scanner control Its allows the control of both the laser and scanner needed for the photoresist exposure according to your pattern. All parameters can be changed and adjusted in order to determine the exact photoresist exposure protocol(power, sweeping speeds, number of insolation cycle…).The software allows X,Y positioning and angular correction.

μPCLight™: CAD software high resolution 2D
With the easy-to-use "μPCLight™" software, you can create your own accurate and detailed micro-pattern from the most simple to the most complex microstructures. The laser beam is like a pen and the "pocket cycles" allow the creation of micro-channels of different sizes.

The combination of these two software offers a very effective and user-friendly interface. The programming parameters are saved for later use, modification or other users.

Accessories

Cartridges

BioTray^® provides the necessary supplies for production of micro-structured surfaces. The high quality chemicals are stored in sealed, interchangeable cartridges made of high density polyethylene (HDPE).
These cartridges allow maximum optimization of the use of the chemicals with minimal loss. This packaging significantly reduces operator risk and potential for accidents by limiting exposure and manipulations.

Technical specifications:
Dimensions : Ø 95 mm. height: 41,5 mm
Volume : 100 ml
Matierial : Polyéthylène Haute Densité (PEHD)
Chemical products: MS 10-100™V2 can use six different chemical products:
• Primer
• Negative and Positive Photoresists
• Developer
• Diluted HF (up to 10%)
• Remover
• Wash Buffer

Prehensors:

The MS 10-100™V2 is modular and adaptable to your substrate size, shape and thickness. (Dimension of Substrates: up to 1"x1" - Substrate thickness: up to 10 mm).

The prehensor is an perfluoroelastomer Kalrez^® which resists over 1800 different chemicals products while offering the high temperature stability of PTFE (327°C).
The prehenseur allows easier positioning of wafers. The maintain is obtained by a suction which is created by a vacuum pump placed inside the MS 10-100™V2.

Vidéo

Production Unit of Microstructured Surfaces
Maskless & Wet Etching Technology