Abstract
Polycarbonate has excellent mechanical properties, and previous studies have demonstrated the use of polycarbonate as a positive-tone resist for electron-beam lithography (EBL). The current study demonstrates that polycarbonate can also behave as a negative-tone resist under a very high electron exposure dosage. The negative-tone behavior is investigated in detail through EBL and thickness measurements. The change in the chemical structure of polycarbonate due to electron exposure is also studied by Raman spectroscopy. The negative-tone behavior and the effective dosage variation on a patterned substrate can potentially be exploited to develop a new electron-beam patterning technique. This technique can replicate polymer patterns by flood electron exposure of a polycarbonate layer on top of a prepatterned metallic template.
Highlights
Electron-beam lithography (EBL)1–4 has been developed for fabricating fine patterns with ultrahigh resolution
Many polymers have been used as resists for EBL, including poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene
After being developed in appropriate solvents, the exposed resist is removed which is known as positive-tone EBL, or allowed to remain which is known as negative-tone EBL
Summary
Electron-beam lithography (EBL) has been developed for fabricating fine patterns with ultrahigh resolution. EBL focuses an electron beam on a resist layer. After being developed in appropriate solvents, the exposed resist is removed which is known as positive-tone EBL, or allowed to remain which is known as negative-tone EBL. Polycarbonate is an engineering polymer with excellent optical, mechanical, and chemical properties (Fig. 1). Polycarbonate has excellent dry etching resistance and chemical and thermal stability.. Recent studies have demonstrated that polycarbonate can behave as a positive-tone resist in EBL. Polycarbonate is applied as an EBL resist under various electron exposure dosages. We observe that polycarbonate can function as a negative-tone resist under very high electron exposure dosage. We investigate the impact of electron backscattering from pre-existing metallic patterns on a substrate when using polycarbonate as an EBL resist
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