Electron Beam Lithography Patterning Research Articles

Deep ultraviolet photolithography capability of ZEP520A electron beam resist for mix and match lithography

ZEP520A is a positive high resolution electron beam resist enabling nanometer scale features; however, electron beam lithography (EBL) is a characteristically slow process. It is demonstrated that ZEP520A can be exposed by deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography and is useful for mix and match lithography schemes. Submicron resolution was achieved, an optical pattern was successfully aligned to an EBL pattern, and 1cm2 was exposed in 11min with DUV compared to 27h with EBL.

Microscale Features and Surface Chemical Functionality Patterned by Electron Beam Lithography: A Novel Route to Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) Stamp Fabrication

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) has become a ubiquitous material for microcontact printing, yet there are few methods available to pattern a completed PDMS stamp in a single step. It is shown here that electron beam lithography (EBL) is effective in writing patterns directly onto cured PDMS stamps, thus overcoming the need for multiple patterning steps. Not only does this method allow the modification of an existing lithographic pattern, but new 3D features such as cones, pits, and channels can also be fabricated. EBL can also be used to fabricate PDMS masks for photolithography whereby 1:1 pattern transfer into a photoresist is achieved. Additionally, direct EBL writing of surface chemical features has been achieved using a PDMS stamp coated with a self-assembled monolayer. An electrostatic mechanism appears to be operative in the EBL patterning process, as supported by calculations, thermogravimetric analysis, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, optical and atomic force microscopy, and chemical functionalization assays.

Directed Immobilization of Protein-Coated Nanospheres to Nanometer-Scale Patterns Fabricated by Electron Beam Lithography of Poly(ethylene glycol) Self-Assembled Monolayers

Controlling the spatial organization of biomolecules on solid supports with high resolution is important for a wide range of scientific and technological problems. Here we report a study of electron beam lithography (EBL) patterning of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of the amide-containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) thiol CH(3)O(CH(2)CH(2)O)(17)NHCO(CH(2))(2)SH on Au and demonstrate the patterning of biomolecular features with dimensions approaching 40 nm. The electron dose dependence of feature size and pattern resolution is studied in detail by atomic force microscopy (AFM), which reveals two distinct patterning mechanisms. At low doses, the pattern formation occurs by SAM ablation in a self-developing process where the feature size is directly dose-dependent. At higher doses, electron beam-induced deposition of material, so-called contamination writing, is seen in the ablated areas of the SAM. The balance between these two mechanisms is shown to depend on the geometry of the pattern. The patterned SAMs were backfilled with fluorescent 40-nm spheres coated with NeutrAvidin. These protein-coated spheres adhered to exposed areas in the SAM with high selectivity. This direct writing approach for patterning bioactive surfaces is a fast and efficient way to produce patterns with a resolution approaching that of single proteins.

Electron beam lithography patterning of sub-10nm line using hydrogen silsesquioxane for nanoscale device applications

We investigated novel patterning techniques to produce ultrafine patterns for nanoscale devices. Hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) was employed as a high-resolution negative tone inorganic electron beam resist. The nanoscale patterns with sub-10nm linewidth were successfully formed. A trimming process of HSQ by the reactive ion etcher (RIE) played an important role for the formation of 5nm nanowire patterns. Additionally, hybrid lithography was used to produce various device patterns as well as to minimize proximity effects of electron beam lithography (EBL). Finally, we successfully fabricated triple-gate metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) with a gate length of 6nm by using the proposed patterning process.

High-Resolution Electron Beam Lithography and DNA Nano-Patterning for Molecular QCA

Electron beam lithography (EBL) patterning of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) is a versatile tool for defining molecular structures on the sub-10-nm scale. We demonstrate lithographic resolution to about 5 nm using a cold-development technique. Liftoff of sub-10-nm Au nanoparticles and metal lines proves that cold development completely clears the PMMA residue on the exposed areas. Molecular liftoff is performed to pattern DNA rafts with high fidelity at linewidths of about 100 nm. High-resolution EBL and molecular liftoff can be applied to pattern Creutz-Taube molecules on the scale of a few nanometers for quantum-dot cellular automata.

Fabricating high-density microarrays for retinal recording

Understanding how the retina encodes the visual scene is a problem, which requires large area, high-density microelectrode arrays to solve. The correlated signals that emerge from the output (ganglion) cells of the retina form a code, which is not well understood. We use a combination of electron beam lithography, photolithography and dry-etch pattern transfer to realise a 519-electrode array in the transparent conductor indium tin oxide (ITO). The electrodes are spaced at 60 μm in a hexagonal close-packed geometry. A mix and match lithography procedure is utilised, whereby the high-density inner region is fabricated using electron beam lithography whilst the outer sections are realised by photolithography. Reactive ion etching (RIE), using CH 4/H 2, of the ITO forms the array structure and SF 6 RIE allows resist removal and patterning of vias through a plasma deposited Si 3N 4 protective layer. The electrical properties of the ITO layer are unaffected by the etching procedures. A reliable method for achieving low-impedance electroplated platinum electrodes has been employed to yield electrode impedances of ∼20 kΩ. An array fabricated using these dry-etch techniques is shown to record action potentials from live retinal tissue in neurophysiological experiments.

Fabrication of Si-based nanoimprint stamps with sub-20 nm features

We present two alternative methods for fabrication of nanoimprint lithography stamps in SiO2 with sub-20 nm features: (a) optimized electron beam lithography (EBL) and lift-off patterning of a 15-nm thick Cr mask, and (b) aerosol deposition of W particles in the 20-nm size range. In both cases, the pattern transfer into SiO2 was performed using reactive ion etching (RIE) with CHF3 as etch gas. In the first approach, we used a double layer resist system (PMMA/ZEP 520A7 positive resists) for the EBL exposure. Resist thickness, exposure dose and development time were optimized to obtain 15-20 nm features after Cr lift-off. In the second approach, we used size selected W aerosol particles as etch masks during etching of SiO2. Both methods of stamp fabrication are compared and discussed. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Simulating the effects of pattern density gradients on electron-beam projection lithography pattern transfer distortions

The development of a low-distortion mask is critical to the success of the sub-0.1 μm lithography technologies. Electron-beam projection lithography (EPL) is one of the potential candidates for next-generation lithography. In order to minimize mask image placement (IP) errors, it is important to understand the factors that induce pattern distortions during mask fabrication and pattern transfer. The fabrication process flows for two EPL mask formats were numerically simulated and experimentally assessed for IP. This study included continuous membranes and stencil membranes for 1 mm ×1 mm and 1 mm ×12 mm window sizes on a 4 in. wafer. Both intramembrane (i.e., within a single window) and intermembrane (i.e., cross-mask) results are reported with excellent correlation between the finite element (FE) data and the experimental measurements. In this article details of the FE simulations are presented; an article by (M. Lercel et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, these proceedings) describes the corresponding experimental work.

Electron-beam lithography patterning of magnetic nickel films

Electron beam (e-beam) lithography has been used to fabricate arrays of rectangular and triangular shaped nickel dots. Dot dimensions range from 250 nm to 1 μm with separations of sub 100, 100 and 250 nm. The array dimensions are about 1 mm 2. X-ray masks to perform the dot patterning by X-ray lithography have been fabricated too. The whole lithographic process is described together with preliminary results concerning the magnetic characterisation of the patterned structures.

Magnetic domain patterns of rectangular and elliptic arrays of small permalloy elements

Magnetic domain patterns of two series of soft magnetic arrays are studied as functions of the aspect ratios. The magnetic images are obtained by using MFM with low magnetic stray field and high-coercivity MFM tips. A 30 nm thick layer of Ni 80Fe 20 alloy is prepared by thermal evaporation and electron beam lithography and lift-off patterning technique on a silicon substrate. The effect of the edge roughness and initial conditions on the magnetic domain patterns is compared with the results obtained by micromagnetic simulations. This comparison clearly shows that the domain structure is related to the edge roughness.

Interactions and switching field distributions of nanoscale magnetic elements

Magnetic nano-elements made from NiFe and Co have been investigated using magnetic imaging in the transmission electron microscope. Nano-elements like these have possible uses for in-plane patterned media or solid state memory. In both cases the elements will need to be patterned into closely spaced arrays and magnetostatic interactions between the elements will begin to become significant. Arrays must therefore be designed so that an element’s interactions with its neighbors will be small compared to its coercivity. Arrays of NiFe elements 300 nm long, 50–100 nm wide, and 26 nm thick, were fabricated by electron beam lithography and lift-off patterning. Their switching behavior and the interactions between them were studied in detail. Magnetization sequences were recorded and hysteresis loops constructed. For rows of NiFe elements with the gap between elements the same as the element width or larger, the interactions turn out to be small, suggesting that denser arrays would be possible.

Fabrication of dissimilar metal electrodes with nanometer interelectrode distance for molecular electronic device characterization

We report a versatile process for the fabrication of dissimilar metal electrodes with a minimum interelectrode distance of less than 6 nm using electron beam lithography and liftoff pattern transfer. This technique provides a controllable and reproducible method for creating structures suited for the electrical characterization of asymmetric molecules for molecular electronics applications. Electrode structures employing pairs of Au electrodes and non-Au electrodes were fabricated in three different patterns. Parallel electrode structures 300 μm long with interelectrode distances as low as 10 nm, 75 nm wide electrode pairs with interelectrode distances less than 6 nm, and a multiterminal electrode structure with reproducible interelectrode distances of 8 nm were realized using this technique. The processing issues associated with the fabrication of these structures are discussed along with the intended application of these devices.

Switching of nanoscale magnetic elements

We have investigated the magnetic properties of ultra-small-patterned elements of Co and NiFe thin films. The elements were rectangular with an aspect ratio in the range 3.75–20. The smallest were 200×40 nm2 with 50 nm gaps between them, corresponding to an areal density of 27 Gbit/in2 if used as discrete-patterned media for magnetic recording. The elements were fabricated by electron-beam lithography and lift-off patterning and high-resolution magnetic images were obtained by Lorentz microscopy in a transmission electron microscope. In situ magnetization reversal experiments showed that the strong dependence of the switching field on element width extended to the smallest elements of both materials. The switching field for 40-nm-wide Co elements was 1200 Oe and for 40-nm-wide NiFe elements was 800 Oe. Element length and aspect ratio had little effect.

Photoluminescence efficiency study of wet chemically etched CdTe/Cd1−xMgxTe wires

Optically active semiconductor wires with lateral extensions between 60 nm and 5 μm based on CdTe/Cd1−xMgxTe quantum well structures have been fabricated by electron beam lithography and subsequent pattern transfer using a wet chemical etching process. Changes of the relative photoluminescence efficiency have been studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy as a function of the wire widths. For narrow wires nonradiative recombination at the wire sidewalls becomes the major recombination mechanism, strongly decreasing the photoluminescence efficiency. We discuss the influence of the exciton diffusion on the photoluminescence efficiency by investigating the wire width dependence of the photoluminescence intensity as a function of temperature and quantum well thickness. High photoluminescence efficiencies are obtained in the case of small diffusion lengths as for example at low temperatures and narrow quantum wells.

The limits of patterning in X-ray lithography

ABSTRACTWe show how the imaging process in proximity X-ray lithography is capable of reaching the sub-100 nm range. However, The use of proximity X-ray lithography is dependent on the mask to form the correct image of the pattern. The joint development of electron beam lithography patterning tools with high-placement accuracy, of a better understanding of the mask mechanical response and of new aligners, clearly indicates that the goal of using X-ray lithography for nanolithography applications is reachable.