Proton Induced Structuring of a Photostructurable Glass
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Proton Induced Structuring of a Photostructurable Glass Meg Abraham1, Inmaculada Gomez-Morilla1, Mike Marsh1, Geoff Grime2 Oxford University, Material Department, Parks Rd. Oxford UK 2 University of Surrey, Physics Department, Guilford, UK
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ABSTRACT The use of photons to create intricate three-dimensional and buried structures [1] in photostructurable glass has been well demonstrated at several institutions [2]. In these instances the glass used whether it be Foturan™, made by the Schott Group or a similar product made by Corning Glass, forms a silver nucleation sites on exposure to intense UV laser light via a twophoton process. Subsequent annealing causes a localized crystal growth to form a meta-silicate phase which can be etched in dilute hydrofluoric acid at rates of 20 to 50 times that of the unprocessed glass. The same formulation of glass can be "exposed" using a particle beam to create the nucleation site. In the case of particle beam exposure, experiments have shown that the mechanisms that cause this initial nucleation and eventual stochiometric transformation, after annealing, depend largely on the beam energy. INTRODUCTION New materials processing methods are leading to a revolution in the types of micro-machines that are currently being developed. The size and dimensionality as well as the types of materials are expanding every year greatly enhancing the number of device types that can be made. One of the more interesting approaches to these types of new three-dimensional processes is the combination of photo-structurable glass with laser direct write patterning to create truly three dimensional micro-machines in glass. In this instance UV photons initiate a sequence where silver ions are reduced, crystals are formed under annealing conditions, and a meta-silicate crystalline phase nucleates. In this crystalline phase, the silicate etches much faster than the glass and it is possible to create very high aspect ratios. Due to the interesting nonlinear properties involved in the initial exposure step, it has been demonstrated that it is possible to create embedded structures in the glass [3] as well as structures with very high aspect ratios by simply varying the laser power, wavelength or focus [4]. The Scanning Proton Microprobe is a tool which has been developed largely to aid in the analysis of the chemical composition or crystal state of materials using techniques such as Rutherford backscattering, X-ray emission, and proton channeling. More recently the tool has been shown to be of value in the area of micro-machining [5] of polymers and related materials. This is accomplished by using the long range and low lateral spread of MeV protons to expose thick photoresists to fabricate high aspect ratio structures (e.g. 1µm grooves 60 µm deep). By using focused protons, we have shown that it is also possible to create embedded structures as well as surface features in photostructurable glass. We have begun to work with developing and understanding this alternative ion beam method for exposing g
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