Nanotechnology

The Mimento facility has a dedicated resource to deal with structures of size below 1 µm. It is mainly composed of 2 high resolution equipments, namely an electron beam lithography station and a dual beam SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) / FIB (Focused Ion Beam).

The electron beam lithography station is used for the exposition of electron sensitive resists. The feature size is in the range 20 nm - 1 µm and after development, the resist can be used as a mask for lift-off process or dry etching.

The dual beam can be used for different kind of process. The most common is for milling thanks to Ga ions, with a resolution down to 10 nm. It can also be used for local deposition (specific precursors) and for nano-manipulation (nano-robot). Characterization by cross-section (FIB milling and then SEM inspection of the slice) is a standard process and is very helpful for process optimization and MEMS’s behaviour understanding.