Method and Apparatus for Maintaining Parallelism of Layers and/or Achieving Desired Thicknesses of Layers During the Electrochemical Fabrication of Structures

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present invention provide processes and apparatus for electrochemically fabricating multilayer structures (e.g. mesoscale or microscale structures) with improved endpoint detection and parallelism maintenance for materials (e.g. layers) that are planarized during the electrochemical fabrication process. Some methods involve the use of a fixture during planarization that ensures that planarized planes of material are parallel to other deposited planes within a given tolerance. Some methods involve the use of an endpoint detection fixture that ensures precise heights of deposited materials relative to an initial surface of a substrate, relative to a first deposited layer, or relative to some other layer formed during the fabrication process. In some embodiments planarization may occur via lapping while other embodiments may use a diamond fly cutting machine.

1 . A fabrication process for forming a multi-layer three-dimensional structure, comprising:
 (a) forming and adhering a layer of material to a previously formed layer and/or to a substrate, wherein the layer comprises a desired pattern of at least one material;   (b) subjecting the at least one material to a planarization operation, comprising:
 (i) mounting the substrate to a fixture in a fly cutting machine; 
 (ii) while the substrate is mounted to the fixture, subjecting the deposited material to a rotating cutting tool to planarize a surface of the material and to bring the height of deposited material to a desired value; 
   (c) repeating the forming and adhering of operation (a) one or more times to form the three-dimensional structure from a plurality of adhered layers.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein forming and adhering of the layer of material involves the selective deposition of a first material, the blanket deposition of a second material. 
     
     
         3 . The process  claim 1  wherein forming and adhering of the layer of material involves the selective deposition of a first material, the blanket deposition of a second material and wherein at least one of the first or second materials is deposited via an electroplating operation. 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the planarization operation includes a lapping operation. 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the planarization operation includes a diamond machining operation. 
     
     
         6 . A fabrication process for forming a multi-layer three-dimensional structure, comprising:
 (a) forming and adhering a layer of material to a previously formed layer and/or to a substrate, wherein the layer comprises a desired pattern of at least one material, wherein one or more contact pads exist on the substrate or on a previously formed layer;   (b) subjecting the at least one material to a planarization operation, comprising:
 (i) mounting the substrate to a fixture in a fly cutting machine; 
 (ii) while the substrate is mounted to the fixture, subjecting the deposited material to a rotating cutting tool to planarize a surface of the material and to bring the height of deposited material to a desired value; 
   (c) locating a fixture in contact with the one or more contact pads and in contact with material that was subject to the planarization operation and extracting data from the fixture concerning a measured height of planarized material at least one point relative to a desired reference point or plane;   (d) comparing the measured height of material to a desired height for the material;   (e) if the measured and desired heights are not within a desired tolerance, repeating operations (b)-(d) until the measured and desired heights are within the desired tolerance;   (f) repeating the forming and adhering of operation (a) one or more times to form the three-dimensional structure from a plurality of adhered layers.   
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 6  wherein forming and adhering of the layer of material involves the selective deposition of a first material, the blanket deposition of a second material. 
     
     
         8 . The process  claim 6  wherein forming and adhering of the layer of material involves the selective deposition of a first material, the blanket deposition of a second material and wherein at least one of the first or second materials is deposited via an electroplating operation. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 6  wherein the planarization operation includes a lapping operation. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 6  wherein the planarization operation includes a diamond machining operation. 
     
     
         11 . A fabrication process for forming a multi-layer three-dimensional structure, comprising:
 (a) forming and adhering a layer of material to a previously formed layer and/or to a substrate, wherein the layer comprises a desired pattern of at least one material, wherein one or more contact pads exist on the substrate or on a previously formed layer;   (b) subjecting the at least one material to a planarization operation, comprising:
 (i) mounting the substrate to a fixture in a fly cutting machine, wherein the fixture has the capability of adjusting the plane of the substrate relative to a cutting plane of the fly cutting machine; 
 (ii) adjusting the plane of the substrate to match the plane of cutting on the fly cutting machine; and then 
 (ii) while the substrate is mounted to the fixture, subjecting the deposited material to a rotating cutting tool to planarize a surface of the material to bring the height of deposited material to a desired value; 
   (c) repeating the forming and adhering of operation (a) one or more times to form the three-dimensional structure from a plurality of adhered layers.   
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 11  wherein forming and adhering of the layer of material involves the selective deposition of a first material, the blanket deposition of a second material. 
     
     
         13 . The process  claim 11  wherein forming and adhering of the layer of material involves the selective deposition of a first material, the blanket deposition of a second material and wherein at least one of the first or second materials is deposited via an electroplating operation. 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 11  wherein the planarization operation includes a lapping operation. 
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 11  wherein the planarization operation includes a diamond machining operation.