This paper reports a process of filling and planarization of microstructures for MEMS and wafer level packaging application. In this work, cavities of 5-10mm depth and 20-100mm in length/width are filled using multiple coatings of polyimide with kinematic viscosities in the range of 20-130St. Such filling results in overfilling of polyimide in the range of 2 to 10mm due to variation in density and geometry of microstructure. A chemical and mechanical polishing (CMP) based planarization process, to achieve polyimide thickness variation <0.2mm in varied structures is presented.

Various types of polyimide have been used widely in the manufacturing of integrated circuits and MEMS’ (Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems) such as sensors. These organic spin-on polymers exhibit a wide range of mechanical and electrical properties and have been commonly used for electrical insulation as well as device passivation and protection. In addition, these organic spin-on polymers serve as excellent sacrificial materials for forming cavities on MEMS structures. This work studies the gapfill properties of several polyimides after spin-coating and curing. In addition, this work examines and compares the gapfilling and planarization properties of a number of different polyimides, including multiple layers of polyimides for gapfilling and planarization.

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