Etching of sub-micrometer structures through Stencil

The processing techniques for micro and nano devices fabrication can be divided into two groups. On one hand, there are the techniques that allow the modification of a given substrate, e.g. ionic implantation, metallization, etching and thermal processes to either grow or deposit insulator layers. On the other hand, there are the processes that allow a pattern transfer of the designs onto the substrate. The general name for this second kind of processes would be lithography, including optical lithography, electron beam lithography (EBL), ion beam lithography (IBL), nanoimprint lithopraphy (NIL) and stencil lithography (SL) among others. The actual fabrication of micro and nano devices consists in the pattern transfer of designs onto a substrate, which means that a combination of both types of processes must be used.