Demonstrating Photolithography with LEGO Bricks

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 13 Issue 6 (2008) pp 348-350

Demonstrating Photolithography with LEGO Bricks

Carolyn J. Garvey,¹ Donna M. Hammer,¹ Sanwarit Prasertchoung,¹ Elba Gomar-Nadal,^1,2,5 Daniel R. Hines,^2,3,4 * Josiah D. Miller,⁶ and Dean J. Campbell⁶

¹Univ. of Maryland, MRSEC, College Park, MD 20742, ² Univ. of Maryland, Department of Physics, College Park, MD 20742 dhines@umd.edu, ³ Laboratory for Physical Sciences, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, ⁴ Univ. of Maryland, NanoCenter, College Park, MD 20742, ⁵INTEL, 2200 Mission College Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054, CA, ⁶ Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625
Received September 24, 2007. Accepted February 15, 2008.

Published online: 1 December 2008

Abstract. The construction of integrated circuit components by photolithography can be demonstrated with LEGO bricks and glow-in-the-dark stickers. The bricks themselves can be used to represent the substrate, photoresist, other deposited layers, and even the optical mask. The glow-in-the-dark stickers on bricks representing photoresist will phosphoresce upon exposure to visible light; these glowing stickers represent chemical bonds in the photoresist that have been activated by ultraviolet light. The bricks labeled with glowing stickers can either be removed to represent positive photoresist or kept in place to represent negative photoresist.

Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; general chemistry

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: dhines@umd.edu)

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