Preparation of cyanoacrylate Langmuir-Blodgett films and their ultraviolet and electron resist application

Abstract

Monolayers and multilayers of polycyanoacrylate derivatives have been studied. Cyanoacrylates containing from two to ten carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain have been used (C2–C10 cyanoacrylates). Cyanoacrylates with more than 5 carbon atoms in the chain are shown to be stable at the air-water interface and can be transferred on to a solid substrate. LB films consisting of 10–100 monolayers have been formed from C6–C10 polycyanoacrylates. A novel negative type UV resist based on LB films has been produced from the heptylpolycyanoacrylate, which possesses a sensitivity of 0.5 J cm −2. A resolution of 0.3 μm was achieved using this resist. Plasma-resistant high resolution electron beam resists have also been obtained with a sensitivity of 5 × 10 −5 C cm −2 for C7 cyanoacrylate LB films and 2 × 10 −7 C cm −2 for a cyanoacrylate containing a non-saturated link in the ω-position of the hydrocarbon chain.