This option is available in dedicated runs only. The purpose of direct metallization is to create bonding and/or probing pads and to pattern coarse electronic pathways directly on the silicon devices. This metallization process uses photolithography to define the metal areas (minimum 10 µm feature size) to within a 2 µm alignment precision to the underlying silicon layer. Metals are deposited on the substrate using electron-beam evaporation and thickness can be controlled to an accuracy of ± 5% of the overall thickness. Oxide cladding cannot be deposited on the device before direct metallization is performed. For MPW runs, the metal properties are as follows: Gold (with 4 nm Cr adhesion layer) - 100 nm.
