Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1 2 3 4
L. De Chiffre (1), H. Kunzmann (1), G.N. Peggs (1), D. A. Lucca (1)
1 2
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany,
3 4
National Physical Laboratory, United Kingdom, Oklahoma State University, USA
Abstract
This paper addresses the role of surfaces at the micrometric and nanometric length scales. Applications,
functional behaviour, and manufacturing issues are reviewed with respect to state-of-the-art and emerging
products fabricated using high precision technologies. Examples of surfaces obtained with precision
engineering, microengineering and nanotechnology are presented, encompassing surfaces in computers,
MEMS, biomedical systems, light and X-ray optics, as well as in chemical systems. Surface properties at
micro and nanoscale are considered, including geometry as well as physical and chemical properties.
Different manufacturing processes are reviewed with respect to surface fabrication, encompassing
conventional machining, microfabrication, and nanomanipulation. Surface metrology at micro and nanoscale
is briefly addressed, and its fundamental importance strongly emphasized.
The authors thank the following contributors: at micro and nanoscale are considered, including
(* indicates CIRP member) geometry as well as physical and chemical properties. The
paper contains a review of the different manufacturing
P. Bariani, Denmark processes, with respect to surface fabrication,
N.J. Bjerrum, Denmark encompassing conventional machining, microfabrication,
K.D. Bouzakis*, Greece and nanomanipulation. Surface metrology at micro and
E. Brinksmeier*, Germany nanoscale is briefly addressed.
F. Christensen, Denmark
J. Corbett*, UK Table 1 gives a schematic overview of applications,
H.N. Hansen*, Denmark functional behaviour, and manufacturing technologies that
N. Ikawa*, Japan are considered in this work with respect to surfaces.
T. Inamura*, Japan
M.J. Klopfstein, USA A number of keynote papers published by CIRP during the
L. Koenders, Germany last few years [1-5] provide the baseline for the paper.
R. Krger-Sehm, Germany Surface metrology has been the subject of the 2002
J.K. Nrskov, Denmark keynote paper [5] but is not extensively considered in this
M. Tricard, USA paper, though its fundamental importance is emphasized.
K.J. Weinmann*, USA
The magnetic properties of a computer hard disk are Fig.1: Typical stiction problems in MEMS. (a)
influenced by a surface region several nanometres thick. Micromachine stiction during release-etch process; (b)
In order to minimize head stiction to the disk surface, stiction between overdriven suspended mass
surface polishing is followed by a texturing process accelerometer and limit stop [8].
producing circumferential grooves or laser texturing, the
overall roughness of the structured surface being Rq = 3- Stiction in MEMS is the main problem from an industrial
5 nm [5]. point of view, while wear debris due to tight clearances and
contact fatigue can be of concern in dynamic devices such
2.2 Surfaces in microelectromechanical systems as micromotors.
(MEMS)
In MEMS devices free-standing micrometre and sub- 2.3 Surfaces in biomedical systems
micrometre sized structures are realized on the surface of Miniaturization of medical diagnostic tools promise cost
a polished silicon wafer by bulk or surface reductions owing to the volume scaled reagents
micromachining. These structures are not just the consumption, time saving (diffusion time dependence),
projection of a two dimensional feature into the depth, but improved reliability and ease of use. Concepts such as bio
truly three dimensional [8]. Very often these structures compatibility in implanted chips, bio-recognition, cross
have to be movable like the cantilever used to support the contamination and bio-fouling in analytical systems,
seismic mass of an accelerometer or microscale wetting properties and electrophoresis in micro-channels
mechanisms realized by IC compatible processes. MEMS often determine device success. Ultimately all these
are characterized by small masses, tight functional factors depend on interactions at the surface. Recently
tolerances, smooth surfaces and light loads. Surface there has been a strong trend toward high aspect ratios
mechanisms are then of tremendous importance in structures because they are capable of achieving a higher
determining their reliability. A major issue in MEMS is active surface area per unit substrate surface area. This is
stiction, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Removal of a silicon oxide particularly important for chemical and biomedical
sacrificial layer is accomplished by wet HF etching. During applications, which offer the possibility of higher packaging
the subsequent drying operation some shrinking drops densities of microstructural elements and higher
may, due to their surface tension, bend the free standing throughput in continuous flow systems. In biomedical
polysilicon structure down to the substrate. There, a devices, where cells are present, interactions at the
permanent adhesion occurs and the device functionality is surface involve biologic functional units ranging from water
compromised, Fig. 1(a). Stiction may also occur at any molecules and small proteins at sub-nanometre size to
time during normal operation, as a result of an overdrive cells in the micrometre range. Protein adsorption
or handling, Fig. 1 (b). Adhesion forces are indeed often mechanisms on a synthetic surface play a fundamental
stronger than ones obtained by actuation. Single role in determining cell adhesion [10]. Many
mechanisms and their relative contribution in determining microfabricated diagnostic tools are under development.
the total stiction force have been discussed in [8]. Several studies show the possibility of manufacturing
Reduction of adhesion and friction forces at interfaces three-dimensional microstructures both in silicon and
may be achieved by modifying surface chemistry or polymeric materials to form microprobe arrays [11]. Aspect
topography. Tribological coatings, well known in the area ratios up to 100:1 are obtained using the SU-8 photoresist
of mechanical engineering have an interesting potential [12]. In lab-on-chip applications, surface chemistry plays a
as tribologically optimized surfaces for micro parts. double role. In certain areas protein adsorption is highly
Important differences exist due to the small offset (0.1- desirable, since it mediates cell adhesion and eventually
2m) and the low forces. Current research is focusing on bio-recognition, on the other hand cell cultures have to be
development of wear resistant surfaces which show restricted to some selected regions within the micro-array.
minimized friction and, above all, low stick-slip behaviour. Indeed other pre-selected device zones are sensed to
Nanocoatings of DLC (diamond like carbon), metal provide a background signal, and therefore they have to
doped-DLC and CNx were demonstrated also to have resist protein adsorption. In other words surface chemistry
excellent wear resistance against abrasive and adhesive is designed and realized to provide the tailored chemical
treatments [9]. Self assembled organic coatings have reactions only where desired. With respect to protein
been proved to eliminate release-related stiction and in- resistance, a 20 nm thick plasma polymerized tetraglymer
use stiction, as well as reduce friction in microengines, but coating layer has been shown to perform satisfactorily as a
control medium [13]. In biochip arrays for DNA analysis
several different single strand DNA segments are attached
to the surface in differentiated locations. Biochemical preventing leakage of strong drugs [15]. Retinal implants
response depends on matching the known DNA based on CMOS technology have recently been reported
fragments with the ones under test. Detector DNA [16]. When adopting a subretinal principle, an electro-
molecules immobilization must be accomplished in such a active array of micro-photo diodes convert light into
way that surface binding is gentle enough to preserve analogue current which is transmitted to the tissue through
their bio-recognition function. Polarization forces at metal a passivation silicon dioxide layer and electrodes patterned
surfaces as well as ionic or covalent interactions on many into a nanoporous TiN layer. This porous layer increases
metal oxides and semiconductor surfaces may determine the contact area by a factor of up to 100. Bioresistance is a
unacceptable loss of specificity. CMOS surfaces are key for this kind of implant which is meant to have lifetime
therefore modified by introduction of space layers and duration. SEM of in vivo implants showed failure of the
linker molecules with the aim of preserving specificity and passivation layer and pit corrosion of the silicon
localization in DNA biochip arrays [10]. At present there is underneath. Therefore the use of other protective layers is
an increasing trend toward the adoption of polymeric films under investigation. Micromachined nanoporous
and bulk materials in biomedical and chemical membranes can be used to create immunoisolation
microdevices. This is due to properties such as, for biocapsules to protect transplanted cells from
example: transparency, corrosion resistance or immunological attack. A fabrication protocol based on a
biocompatibility and the possibility of designing the thin sacrificial oxide thermally grown and sandwiched
material itself as required by the specific application. The between two silicon structural layers gives membrane
role of the surface is of major importance also with structures with highly defined pore sizes, as small as 10
respect to signal detection in biosensors; reflectivity and nm [17]. These were demonstrated to be suitable in
adsorption properties are relevant issues in thin-film xenotransplantation: the typical dimensions of insulin,
design of optical coatings. Electrophoretic separation of glucose, oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules are below
chemical species is currently achieved in microfabricated 3.5 nm, while the antibodies are demonstrated to be
microfluidic devices. Polymer fabricated systems are retained by a membrane with a pore diameter of 30 nm.
under development that are relatively cheap. In these The strict control of pore diameter is of great importance,
systems, the wetting properties are of major concern. A since even a small amount of pore diameters over the
different approach has been followed in programmable nominal cutoff value would allow the passage of antibodies
biochips based on SAW actuation which have been in sufficient amounts to initiate immunorejection pathways.
recently presented [14]. Here, instead of trapping the
liquid into microchannels, it is kept into micro-beakers and An important area is that of implants for medical use,
transported across the surface of a chip. The surface is where the current R&D on surface modifications pointing
chemically functionalized, see Figure 2, in such a way to toward complex and multifunctional surfaces identifies
lay down fluidic tracks on the surface, very much like three classes: one aiming at optimizing the topography
printing circuits on electronic boards. In this way, specific (pore distributions, roughness, etc.); the second one
regions of the chip can be made hydrophobic or focusing on the biochemical properties of surface coatings
hydrophilic. The tracks are shaped by lithography [14]. and impregnations (ion release, multi-layer coatings,
coatings with biomolecules, controlled drug release, etc.);
and the third one dealing with the viscoelastic properties of
surface materials [18]. The surface is recognized by the
biological system through the combined chemical and
topographic pattern of the surface, and the viscoelastic
properties. In most cases, biorecognition is a central
component. Any attempt to make a sophisticated
functional surface for biointeractions must take into
account the highly developed ability of biological systems
to recognize specially designed features on the molecular
scale [10]. Famous examples are antibodyantigen,
enzyme substrate, and receptor transmitter recognition
(e.g., in cell membranes). The recognition is programmed
into the molecules through the combination of their 3D
topographic architecture, the superimposed chemical
architecture, and the dynamic properties. Consequently an
optimally designed surface for specific biological function
must take these aspects into account. Although the
Fig. 2: Sketch of BioMEMS with selective texture for the fundamental interactions occur on the molecular scale
generation of droplets having a 20 pl volume. The there is an interesting and unique synergistic connection
diameter of circles on the surface is approximately 30 m between the nanometre and the micrometre length scales
[14]. when cells are present, as e.g., in the cases of medical
implants, tissue engineering and cell-based bioelectronics.
Therapeutic tools such as implantable biocapsules and Recent work in the area of surface modification by
drug delivery systems are the object of extensive texturing, implantation, and coatings can be found in
research. Microfabricated pumps for drug delivery references [19-25].
applications are based on actuated silicon membranes.
Fluid compression is achieved by overdriving a 2.4 Surfaces in light and X-ray optics
reciprocating membrane. The return motion is due to the For general-purpose-research telescopes the description
membranes own elasticity. There, the squeeze effect is of the optical quality of the surfaces is normally based on a
limited by texturing one of the contacting surfaces. In specified point spread function and a simple roughness
these devices, thermal mismatch due to the difference in criterion. There are two types of mathematical
thermal expansion between silicon and silicon dioxide, relationships relating surface roughness and other surface
has been used to pretension the surface of valves figuring errors to scattering. However, the two basic
expressions are not normally used together. The root- textures in the region of 0.4 nm Ra was possible in the
mean-square (rms) wavefront aberration in terms of 1980s [31] and figure accuracies of 0.2 nm are published
wavelengths is denoted by . For small aberrations, the today. The very demanding metrology requirements
fractional loss L of intensity in the central peak of an spawned a significant number of instruments designed to
image that is close to the diffraction limit is simply related measure exceptionally smooth surfaces and they were
to the Strehl ratio, that is a measure of image quality [26], both of the contacting [32] and the non-contacting [33]
[16]: types, such as ellipsometry, where a light beam of known
polarization is incident on the sample. In general the light
2 2 2
L = 1 exp(-(2) ) 4 (1) reflected from the surface is elliptically polarized and, for
very thin coatings, the light will reach the lower interface
As pointed out by Born and Wolf [26], the formula is and the ellipsicity of the light will be thickness dependent.
derived for low-order (smooth) aberrations. In contrast, The axial angular slope is another key parameter that must
the Total Integrated Scattering S, at normal incidence for be controlled during manufacture [30] and slopes in the
random roughness is given by: range of 2 to 5 microradians are required for optics with
good performance. Attempts at making x-ray microscopes
2 2 2
S = 1 exp(-(4) ) 16 (2) were based on reflective optics [34-35] but in recent years
more success was achieved using zone plates, noteably
where is the rms surface roughness as deviation from a amplitude zone plates [36] but more recently by phase
mean plane [27]. Expression (1) applies to an optical zone plates [37-39]. There is much interest in x-ray
wavefront generating an image that is close to the microscopes because their resolution is determined by the
diffraction limit of resolution. Expression (2) in the form width of the outer ring of the zone plate which can be of
shown applies to any beam of light in reflectance at the order of 35 nm which is therefore at least 10 times
normal incidence. However, in case (2), rms wavefront better than an optical microscope. Moreover, the x-ray
errors at normal incidence are equal to 2. We therefore microscope can be used to image intact cells to a depth of
have = /2. The two expressions give similar results a few micrometres [40-41].The normal type of x-ray
despite having different origins. With the advent of microscope takes an image of the whole specimen at once
advanced design telescopes and recent developments in but there are scanning variants where the object to be
polishing technologies, it may be possible to tailor the measured is rastered whilst a picture is built up [42].
characteristics of mirror surfaces to improve the optical
characteristics of an optical element. The major Multi-layer based x-ray optical systems represent an
advantage is that stray light could be managed in a much important area. Multi-layer coatings are being used
more efficient way than currently possible [28] by successfully as beam-forming elements for soft x-ray
engineering the surface. It would be possible, for applications such as hard x-ray micro-probes [43]. Such
example, to direct stray light away from key regions of the coatings that can be 100 layers thick are arranged in such
field where maximum contrast is needed to meet the a way that reflections add in phase. However, the
science requirement. thickness of such layers is of the order of 1 to 10 nm thick
and the surface texture must be carefully controlled to the
Surface roughness plays a major role in reflective x-ray order of 0.1 nm Ra [44]. Windt et al. [45] point out that it is
optics. X-rays incident at very shallow angles can be very important to specify, and measure within, the surface
reflected with high efficiency off smooth metallic or metal- wavelength which influences the x-ray reflectivity, in this
-1
coated surfaces, for example gold. Such mirrors, with case from 1 to 100 m .
designs of varying degrees of complexity, are widely used
in x-ray telescopes and other x-ray imaging applications. Examples of micro-optical systems are the OLED (organic
In typical applications, an x-ray telescope mirror is made light emitting diodes), which are illumination sources based
from glass ceramic material that is highly polished and on electrophosphorescent organic thin film layers (less
coated with metal, or it can be made from nickel than 500 nm). Their light extraction efficiency is limited to
electrodeposited on a mandrel. In practice, such a 20% due to total internal reflection. This limitation is
telescope receives x-rays from sources in space and they partially removed when an ordered array of microlenses is
first strike an annular parabolic surface and are then attached to the substrate surface opposite to that of the
reflected on to an annular hyperbolic surface (an optical OLEDs. Ten micrometre diameter PDMS microlense
configuration developed by Wolter [29]). Frequently, such arrays fabricated using transfer moulding were
surfaces are nested to improve the collecting efficiency of demonstrated to improve external quantum efficiency of an
the telescope. In telescopes with the best angular OLED by 50%. No alignment is required for these arrays
resolution the geometry of the individual mirrors is as since the microlense diameter is about ten times smaller
close to perfection as possible but this implies a rigid than a display pixel [46].
surface that has a thickness of some millimetres. For
applications where less angular resolution is needed foils 2.5 Surfaces in chemical systems
can be used. In both cases the surface texture of the The surface plays an important role in chemical systems
surface strongly affects the performance of the mirror such as heterogeneous catalysis, fuel cells, etc., since
because it gives rise to x-ray scatter and therefore chemical reactions depend on the amount of active
minimizing the surface texture is a vital aspect of the surface, predominantly on the micrometre to nanometre
manufacture of such components. Fortunately, the scale. Actually, catalysts are today the most important
improvement between an optical component and an x-ray group of commercial nanomaterials [47-48]. The majority
component is not the ratio of the optical to x-ray of industrial catalysts are high-surface-area solids onto
wavelengths because the x-ray optical component is which an active component is dispersed in the form of very
operating at grazing incident. It can be shown that a small particles. These have dimensions of 1 to 20 nm and
surface texture improvement of about 25 is needed for the are often referred to as nanoparticles. Catalysis will
x-ray case that has been demonstrated to be possible continue to be an important area of nanotechnology since
[30]. A number of researchers have demonstrated solutions to many important resource, energy and
manufacturing and measuring substrates with surface
environmental problems require new catalysts with tailor- Complex patterns
made nanostructures. 3D nature with re-entrances
Miniaturised components
An area involving catalysis which is receiving particular
attention is represented by fuel cells [49]. In a fuel cell, Figures 4 and 5 show examples of surfaces on modern
basically consisting of two electrodes sandwiched around products, where micrometre details govern the functional
an electrolyte, oxygen passes over one electrode and behaviour of the surface through the so-called lotus effect
hydrogen over the other, generating electricity, water and [51]. Figure 6 illustrates the typical dimensions of
heat. Several kinds of fuel cells have been developed, for structures obtained with different manufacturing
example [49]: Phosphoric Acid (PAFC), Proton Exchange processes, which are, in general, interrelated. Going down
Membrane (PEM), Molten Carbonate (MCFC), Solid from millimetre to nanometre length scales is not only a
Oxide (SOFC), Alkaline, Direct Methanol Fuel Cells scaling of the size of the material, the nature of the
(DMFC), Regenerative Fuel Cells, Zinc-Air Fuel Cells material itself changes. At distances of some nanometres it
(ZAFC), Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells (PCFC). As an is not only less material which is observed, the material
example, in PEM fuel cells, the proton exchange becomes atomic and discrete in character, i.e., the atoms
membrane is a thin plastic sheet that allows hydrogen of the surface determine the physical and chemical
ions to pass through it. The membrane is coated on both properties of the surface. On the other side we have to
sides with highly dispersed metal alloy particles (mostly take into account the atomic steps on surface crystals.
platinum) that are active catalysts. In PCFC cells, Steps at this scale depend on the treatment of the sample
gaseous molecules of the hydrocarbon fuel are absorbed and represent the surface heights becoming discrete.
on the surface of the anode in the presence of water Calculations of the roughness of such atomic surfaces
vapor, and hydrogen atoms are efficiently stripped off to have been produced recently, [52-53].These calculations
be absorbed into the electrolyte, with carbon dioxide as take into account the available data of crystals and
the primary reaction product. Figure 3 gives an knowledge acquired using the bulk values, although the
impression of the role played by the active surface area in atoms on the surface show different structures, as
a MCFC cell cathode which is considerably expanded by observed by Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and
a high porosity. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). The surface atoms
are arranged in such a way that the surface energy is
Another important area is that of microchemical sensors, minimized. Accordingly, on a clean silicon surface of (111)
which has been partially illustrated in connection with orientation we see a 7x7 unit cell, whereas on a (100)
micromedical applications in section 2.3. surface a 2x1 structure is observed, Figs. 7 and 8. The
meaning of 7x7 is that the surface unit cell is 7 times larger
in the x direction than assumed from the bulk values, see
[54-56].
3.1 Geometry
A number of aspects among those listed below
differentiate the geometry of high precision surfaces from
the geometry of surfaces of conventional products: