AFM-measured surface roughness of SU-8 structures produced by deep x-ray lithography

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Deep x-ray lithography is a well-known technique used to pattern ultra high aspect ratio microstructures. It relies on the fact that higher energy synchrotron x-rays have the ability to penetrate millimeters of resist layers. However, the spectral shape of the beam will vary as a function of penetration depth, sometimes by design, so as to distribute the dose differently for different thickness structures and always as a result of filtering of lower energies. Some studies have shown that in PMMA sidewall roughness can be affected by spectral issues. SU-8 is now the resist of choice for certain high aspect ratio structures due to its high sensitivity and contrast. As sidewall roughness is a key parameter in several potential applications of high aspect ratio structures, we therefore investigated the surface roughness of 500 µm thick SU-8 structures exposed using beam spectra with peak energies between 3 keV and 12 keV. Results indicate that as the x-ray energy increases so too does the surface roughness. The surface roughness also increases as a function of feature depth. We attribute this to the random secondary physical processes of photo and Auger electron scattering both of which are strongly energy dependent.