Beamline Research Division, Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang 790-784, Korea.
ACS Nano. 2010 Sep 28;4(9):4997-5002. doi: 10.1021/nn1005705.
Most researchers expect extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) to be used to create patterns below 32 nm in semiconductor devices. An ultrathin EUV photoresist (PR) layer a few nanometers thick is required to further reduce the minimum feature size. Here, we show for the first time that pentacene molecular layers can be employed as a new EUV resist. Nanometer-scale dots and lines have been successfully realized using the new molecular resist. We clearly show the mechanism that forms the nanopatterns using a scanning photoemission microscope, EUV interference lithography, an atomic force microscope, and photoemission spectroscopy. The molecular PR has several advantages over traditional polymer EUV PRs. For example, it has high thermal/chemical stability, negligible outgassing, the ability to control the height and width on the nanometer scale, fewer residuals, no need for a chemical development process and thus a reduction of chemical waste when making nanopatterns. Besides, it can be applied to any substrate to which pentacene bonds chemically, such as SiO2, SiN, and SiON, which are important films in the semiconductor device industry.
大多数研究人员预计，极紫外光刻（EUVL）将用于在半导体器件中创建小于 32nm 的图案。需要极薄的几纳米厚的极紫外光致抗蚀剂（PR）层，以进一步减小最小特征尺寸。在这里，我们首次表明，五并苯分子层可用作新型 EUV 抗蚀剂。使用新型分子抗蚀剂已成功实现了纳米级的点和线。我们使用扫描光电发射显微镜、极紫外干涉光刻、原子力显微镜和光电子能谱清楚地展示了形成纳米图案的机制。与传统的聚合物 EUV PR 相比，分子 PR 具有几个优势。例如，它具有高热/化学稳定性、可忽略不计的出气、在纳米尺度上控制高度和宽度的能力、较少的残留物、无需化学显影工艺，因此在制作纳米图案时减少了化学废物。此外，它可以应用于任何与五并苯化学键合的基底，例如在半导体器件工业中非常重要的 SiO2、SiN 和 SiON 薄膜。
