Influence of developer temperature on the shape of structures fabricated by deep X-ray lithography

This paper describes the fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microstructures with three-dimensional (3-D) sloped sidewalls using synchrotron-radiated (SR) deep X-ray lithography (DXRL). Here, the developer temperature was varied to produce variations in the inclination angle of the sloped sidewalls. We found that the PMMA sidewall inclination angle and height were controlled by the dosage, development time, and development temperature. When the development temperature was low, the inclination angle was nearly 0°, regardless of dosage amounts or exposure time. When the development temperature was high, microstructures with sloped sidewalls were fabricated; as the dosage amount and development time increased, the inclination angle increased. The ability to control the PMMA sidewall inclination angle suggests the application of this technique to microstructure fabrication technologies, such as 3-D microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device components, in which the inclination angle becomes the draft angle for moulding processes.