Electronic manufacturing with high intelligence and high integration features is the upstream of the high-end manufacturing industries. The critical dimension during fabrication process is quite close to the atomic scale, and the tribology phenomenon plays critical role in determining the processing quality and the product performance. The concept of electronic manufacturing tribology was first proposed in the paper. Electronic manufacturing tribology refers to the investigation of tribological problems such as friction, abrasion, lubrication, adhesion and other surface/interface phenomena between micro-contacted surfaces during the manufacturing process of electronic devices, and also the development of new fabrication techniques based on tribology. Its important role in promoting the development of electronic manufacturing was elaborated afterwards in the paper. Tribology in the micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), the integrated circuit fabrication, the flexible electronic manufacturing and the high-performance storage was taken as typical applications, and their research progress in the last two decades was summarized. Typical electronic fabrication techniques such as the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), nano-imprint lithography (NIL), friction bonding, self-assembly patterning, surface film techniques and the newly proposed tribotronics were introduced, and the tribological problems such as the friction, abrasion, lubrication and adhesion in them were analyzed comprehensively. The influences of new materials, surroundings and other fabrication working conditions were also taken into account in this paper.

Based on the above analysis, the scientific fundamentals in the electronic manufacturing tribology was also proposed: the tribological behavior in the atomic fabrication process; the nano-lubrication theory and surface film technology of the high-speed surfaces; the novel nano-fabrication methods and techniques based on tribology theory. Research outlooks were also shown in the paper. The future of electronic manufacturing tribology will be inseparable with the development of micro-nano tribology and the atomic fabrication techniques. Its development will focus on realizing the atomic scale and nano-scale removal, migration and addition of materials, and also the development of new electronic fabrication techniques based on tribology. The relevant research on electronic manufacturing tribology could enrich the micro-nano tribology theory, and provides important basis for developing novel and high-performance basic electronic products as well.