What is claimed is:
1. A process for lithographically patterning a material on a substrate comprising the steps of:
(a) depositing a radiation sensitive material on the substrate by chemical vapor deposition;
(b) selectively exposing the radiation sensitive material to radiation to form a pattern; and
(c) developing the pattern using a supercritical fluid (SCF) as a developer.
2. The process of claim 1 that is a direct dielectric patterning process.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises an underlying dielectric layer and a sacrificial resist layer on top of the underlying dielectric layer.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein the radiation sensitive material after selective exposure to radiation results in a positive-type resist.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein the radiation sensitive material after selective exposure to radiation results in a negative-type resist.
6. The process of claim 3 further comprising the step of transferring the pattern from the sacrificial resist layer to the underlying dielectric layer by etching, and stripping away the sacrificial resist layer.
7. The process of claim 1 further comprising the step of:
including a photoacid generator in step (a).
8. The process of claim 1 wherein the chemical vapor deposition comprises pyrolytic chemical vapor deposition.
9. The process of claim 1 wherein the radiation sensitive material has dielectric constant of less than about 3.0.
10. The process of claim 1 wherein the dielectric constant of the radiation sensitive material ranges from about 1.9 to about 2.7.
11. The process of claim 1 wherein the radiation sensitive material is selected from the group consisting of a fluorocarbon and an organosilicon compound.
12. The process of claim 11 wherein the fluorocarbon comprises poly(CF2).
13. The process of claim 12 wherein the poly(CF2) is made by polymerization of difluorocarbene (:CF2).
14. The process of claim 13 wherein the difluorocarbene is derived from hexafluoropropylene oxide.
15. The process of claim 11 wherein the organosilicon compound is selected from the group consisting of organosilanes and organosiloxanes.
16. The process of claim 11 wherein the organosilicon compound is derived from at least one member selected from the group consisting of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane.
17. The process of claim 1 wherein the radiation used to form the pattern is selected from the group consisting of deep ultraviolet radiation (DUV), extreme ultraviolet radiation, ultraviolet radiation (UV), and x-rays and ion beam.
18. The process of claim 1 wherein the radiation used to form the pattern is electron beam radiation.
19. The process of claim 17 wherein the wavelength of the deep ultraviolet radiation is a member selected from the group consisting of 193 nm and 157 nm.
20. The process of claim 1 wherein the supercritical fluid (SCF) is supercritical carbon dioxide.
21. The process of claim 1 wherein the supercritical fluid (SCF) is a mixture of carbon dioxide and at least one member selected from the group consisting of propane, butane, 2,3-dimethylbutane, pentane, toluene, n-hexane, cyclohexane, acetonitrile, methanol, and ethanol.
22. The process of claim 1 wherein the substrate is a semiconductor substrate.
23. The process of claim 1 wherein the substrate is a silicon wafer.
24. The process of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises an epoxy material, a ceramic material, a magnetic disc, or a printed circuit board.
25. A process for lithographically patterning a material on a substrate comprising the steps of:
depositing a radiation sensitive material on the substrate by chemical vapor deposition;
selectively exposing the radiation sensitive material to radiation to form a pattern; and
developing the pattern using a dry plasma etch.
26. A microstructure formed by a process comprising the steps of:
depositing a radiation sensitive material on a substrate by chemical vapor deposition;
selectively exposing the radiation sensitive material to radiation to form a pattern; and
developing the pattern using a supercritical fluid (SCF) as a developer to form the microstructure; wherein the process is direct dielectric patterning process.
27. A microstructure comprising:
a substrate; and
a patterned dielectric layer, wherein the patterned dielectric layer comprises at least one two-dimensional feature having a dimensional tolerance more precise than 7% of the dimension of the two-dimensional feature.
28. The microstructure of claim 27 wherein the patterned dielectric layer is formed by a direct patterning process.
29. The microstructure of claim 28 wherein the direct patterning process comprises depositing a radiation sensitive dielectric material on said substrate and selectively exposing the radiation sensitive dielectric material to radiation.
30. The microstructure of claim 27, wherein the patterned dielectric layer is formed by a solventless lithographic process.
31. The microstructure of claim 30, wherein the solventless lithographic process comprises using a supercritical fluid as a developer.
32. A microelectronic structure comprising:
a substrate;
at least one transistor formed on the substrate; and
at least one conductive two-dimensional feature formed within a dielectric pattern, wherein the conductive two-dimensional feature has a dimensional tolerance more precise than 7% of the dimension of the two-dimensional feature.
33. The microelectronic structure of claim 32, wherein the conductive feature further includes a plurality of transistors.
34. The microelectronic structure of claim 32 wherein the conductive feature comprise at least one metal line.
35. A microstructure comprising:
a substrate; and
a three-dimensional structure formed on the substrate, wherein the three dimensional structure is formed by a three-dimensional direct patterning process.
36. The microstructure of claim 35 wherein the three-dimensional direct patterning process comprises depositing a radiation sensitive dielectric material on the substrate and selectively exposing the radiation sensitive dielectric material to radiation using a three-dimensional imaging technique.
37. The microstructure of claim 36 wherein the three-dimensional direct patterning process further comprises using a supercritical fluid as a developer.
38. The microstructure of claim 36 wherein the three-dimensional imaging technique comprises two-photon patterning.
39. The microstructure of claim 36 wherein the three-dimensional imaging technique comprises holographic imaging.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus for transporting fluid, comprising:
a housing having an inner channel;
a fluid contained within the channel;
a first array of electrodes arranged in a first pattern, a second array of electrodes arranged in a second pattern, and a third array of electrodes arranged in a third pattern, said first, second and third patterns being interdigitated into a repetitive pattern of a first electrode, second electrode, and a third electrode, the interdigitated repetitive pattern being proximate to the inner channel, and
a three phase source of electrical voltage at a frequency, the first phase being provided to said first array, the second phase being provided to said second array, the third phase being provided to said third array, each phase being separated by a phase angle from each other phase;
wherein application of said source to said first array, said second array, and said third array generates a traveling voltage wave within the channel.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 which further comprises a plurality of particles colloidally suspended in said fluid, wherein the traveling voltage wave applies a traveling-wave dielectrophoretic force to said particles.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each phase is shifted from each other phase by about one third of a cycle.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the frequency is selected such that a plurality of particles are repelled from each of said first array, said second array, and said third array.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the frequency is selected such that a particle proximate to an electrode of said first array, said second array, or said third array is induced by said source to recirculate in the channel about said electrode.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the frequency is selected such that any particle proximate to an electrode of said first array, said second array, or said third array are induced to recirculate in the channel about said electrode.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first array, said second array, and said third are located along an inner surface of the channel.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 which further comprises a plurality of dielectric particles colloidally suspended in said fluid, said particles each having a characteristic size less than about 10 micrometers.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 which further comprises a plurality of dielectric particles suspended in said fluid, said particles each having a characteristic size less than about 100 nanometers.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 which further comprises a plurality of dielectric particles colloidally suspended in said fluid, said particles having not been generated by a life form.
11. A method for inducing movement in a fluid, comprising:
providing a source of a first electric field alternating at a frequency selectable within a range of frequencies and a second electric field alternating at the frequency and being temporally spaced from the first electric field by a phase angle, a fluid flowpath in electrical communication with the first electric field and second electric field, a fluid media having a complex media permittivity \u03b5m, and a plurality of particles having a complex particle permittivity \u03b5p;
placing the fluid and the particles in a colloidal suspension within the flowpath;
selecting the frequency such that:
Re\u0192CM is less than about zero, and
Im\u0192CM is less than about \u22120.02,
wherein \u0192CM is the Clausius-Mossotti factor:
f
~
CM
=
(
\u025b
~
p
–
\u025b
~
m
\u025b
~
p
+
2
\ue89e
\u025b
~
m
)
;
applying the first electric field at the frequency to the flowpath and the second electric field at the frequency to the flowpath;
driving the particles to move in a direction by the action of the first and second electric fields; and
inducing flow of the fluid media in the direction by viscous drag of the particles on the fluid media.
12. The method of claim 12 wherein said providing includes a source of a third electric field alternating at the frequency and being temporally spaced from the first electric field and the second electric field by a phase angle, and wherein said applying includes applying the third electric field at the frequency to the flowpath, and said driving includes by the action of the third electric field.
13. The method of claim 13 wherein each electric field is spaced from each other electric field by a phase angle of about 120 degrees.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein the first electric field is spaced from the second electric field by a phase angle of more than about 30 degrees and less than about 150 degrees.
15. A method of exchanging heat between an object and a heat sink, comprising:
providing a cooling channel in thermal communication with the object and in thermal communication with a heat sink, a fluid in the channel having a plurality of suspended dielectric particles, an array of interdigitated electrodes in electrical communication with the channel, and a source of electrical voltage at a frequency;
applying the electrical voltage at the electrodes and establishing a traveling-wave dielectrophoretic force on the particles;
moving the particles in the channel by the action of the force on the particles;
moving the fluid in the channel by the action of the particles on the fluid; and
exchanging heat from the object to the heat sink by the movement of the fluid in the channel.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the channel is a closed channel and said moving the fluid by recirculation of a portion of the particles.
17. The method of claim 15 wherein the electrodes include three electrically separated conductive paths, the source includes three phase-separated voltage waveforms, and each conductive path is provided a different one of the three waveforms.