This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop specific innovations, relating to numerical etching procedure (NEP) and nonlinear sequential analysis (NSA), to analyze the local stress field of a patterned microstructure. By step-by-step irreversible numerical etching, and closely coupled with experimental procedures, the proposed technology can directly correlate the stress state of a patterned microstructure to that of a blanket film. Experimental results have proven that these innovative techniques can also solve highly geometric nonlinear problems, such as membranes. The applications can include bond pads, interconnect lines, sensors, and mask distortion analysis in the IC and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) industries. Such technical innovations can act as a single package, or work as a module for current Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) bundles to support the reliability and performance analysis of patterned microstructures. The impacts of the proposed innovations will make the following contributions: (1) Applications. Perform mechanical reliability analysis of patterned microstructures; (2) Performance. Solve complex geometric nonlinear problems; (3) Efficiencies. Advise on the correct experimental direction and reduce exploration time; (4) Cost. Revise in-house design concepts instead of finding new material to fit an old design code, which can be costly.
The numerical etching procedure (NEP) will be an indispensable tool for the semiconductor industry. It will serve to predict the intrinsic stresses of patterned microstructures. If the proposed research meets its goals, the resulting product can be integrated into Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) tools and software, which will have many applications in mechanical reliability and performance analysis in the fields of packaging bond pads, interconnect lines, MEMS devices, membranes, mask distortion analysis, and other future micro devices.
