SUEX Dry Film Resist – A new Material for High Aspect Ratio Lithography

SUEX epoxy Thick Dry Film Sheets (TDFS) are a promising material for a wide range of MEMS applications. They contain a cationically cured modified epoxy formulation utilizing an antimony-free photo acid generator (PAG). A highly controlled solvent-less process provides uniform resist coatings between two throw-away layers of protective polyester (PET) film in varying thicknesses ranging from 100 μm to 1 mm. Patterning is possible with both UV and Xray lithography as well as a combination of lithography and hot embossing. This enables the fabrication of multi-level, complex designs as well as high aspect ratio MEMS (HARMS) components. Joint efforts between DJ DevCorp and CAMD are focused on optimizing process parameters and demonstrate the possibilities for MEMS applications including plating molds for metal microparts, polymer MEMS, multilayer microfluidics structures, BioMEMS, medical devices, wafer level packaging processes, and displays. This report briefly summarizes the activities and refers to the literature or other contributions in the CAMD annual report for more details.