Photoresist Patterns Research Articles

Si-Containing Reverse-Gradient Block Copolymer for Inorganic Pattern Amplification in EUV Lithography.

Although extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) has emerged as a leading technology for achieving high quality sub-10 nm patterns, the insufficient pattern height of photoresist patterns remains a challenge. Directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs) is expected to be a complementary technology for EUVL due to its ability to form periodic nanostructures. However, for a combination with EUV patterns, it is essential to develop advanced BCP systems that are suited to inorganic-containing EUV photoresists and offer improved resolution limits, pattern quality, and etch resistance. Here, we report a reverse-gradient BCP system, poly[(styrene-gradient-pentafluorostyrene)-b-4-tert-butyldimetilsiloxystyrene] [P(S-g-PFS)-b-P4BDSS] BCP, which enables universally vertically oriented lamellae even in the absence of a neutral layer, while also containing a Si-containing block with high etch resistance. The gradient block, characterized by a gradual compositional transition from the block junction to the tail, plays a crucial role in creating an adequate surface energy contrast that energetically drives the formation of perpendicular lamellae without neutral layer. When used as a pattern height enhancement layer in EUVL, a high aspect ratio (3.29) of patterns was achieved, thereby offering a supplementary solution for next-generation EUVL.

Fabrication and bonding of In bumps on Micro-LED with 8 μm pixel pitch

Indium (In) is currently used to fabricate metal bumps on micro-light-emitting diode (Micro-LED) chips due to its excellent physical properties. However, as Micro-LED pixel size and pitch decrease, achieving high-quality In bumps on densely packed Micro-LED chips often presents more challenges. This paper describes the process of fabricating In bumps on micro-LEDs using thermal evaporation, highlighting an issue where In tends to grow laterally within the photoresist pattern, ultimately blocking the pattern and resulting in undersized and poorly dense In bumps on the Micro-LED chip. To address this issue, we conducted numerous experiments to study the height variation of In bumps within a range of photoresist aperture sizes (3 μm −7 μm) under two different resist thickness conditions (3.8 μm and 4.8 μm). The results showed that the resist thickness had a certain effect on the height of In bumps on the Micro-LED chip electrodes. Moreover, we found that, with the photoresist pattern size increasing under constant resist thickness conditions, the height and quality of the bumps significantly improved. Based on this finding, we rationalized the adjustment of the photoresist pattern size within a limited emission platform range to compensate for the height difference of In bumps caused by different resist thicknesses between the cathode and anode regions. Consequently, well-shaped and dense In bumps with a maximum height of up to 4.4 μm were fabricated on 8 μm pitch Micro-LED chips. Afterwards, we bonded the Micro-LED chip with indium bumps to the CMOS chip, and we found that we could successfully control the CMOS chip to drive the Micro-LED chip to display specific characters through the Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC). This work is of significant importance for the fabrication of In bumps on Micro-LED chips with pitches below 10 μm and subsequent bonding processes.

Wafer-Recyclable, Eco-Friendly, and Multiscale Dry Transfer Printing by Transferable Photoresist for Flexible Epidermal Electronics.

Flexible electronics have been of great interest in the past few decades for their wide-ranging applications in health monitoring, human-machine interaction, artificial intelligence, and biomedical engineering. Currently, transfer printing is a popular technology for flexible electronics manufacturing. However, typical sacrificial intermediate layer-based transfer printing through chemical reactions results in a series of challenges, such as time consumption and interface incompatibility. In this paper, we have developed a time-saving, wafer-recyclable, eco-friendly, and multiscale transfer printing method by using a stable transferable photoresist. Demonstration of photoresist with various, high-resolution, and multiscale patterns from the donor substrate of silicon wafer to different flexible polymer substrates without any damage is conducted using the as-developed dry transfer printing process. Notably, by utilizing the photoresist patterns as conformal masks and combining them with physical vapor deposition and dry lift-off processes, we have achieved in situ fabrication of metal patterns on flexible substrates. Furthermore, a mechanical experiment has been conducted to demonstrate the mechanism of photoresist transfer printing and dry lift-off processes. Finally, we demonstrated the application of in situ fabricated electrode devices for collecting electromyography and electrocardiogram signals. Compared to commercially available hydrogel electrodes, our electrodes exhibited higher sensitivity, greater stability, and the ability to achieve long-term health monitoring.

Pattern deformation mitigation for EUV photoresists using wafer backside cleaning techniques

This study delves into the effects of wafer backside particles on pattern defocus in EUV lithography (EUVL). Additionally, the potential mitigation of this pattern defocus was examined through wafer backside cleaning. Comparative analyses were conducted between EUVL patterning tests performed using wafers with contaminated and cleaned wafer backside. Defocus points and abnormal critical dimensions (CDs) on the photoresist patterns at the wafer frontside were detected using scanning electron microscopy and optical CD measurement, respectively. The specific locations of these defocus or abnormal CD points were compared and confirmed to be correlated with particles that were present on the same locations on the backside of the wafer. Furthermore, it was found that an effective backside cleaning process can mitigate pattern defocus caused by these wafer backside particles.

Direct patterning of liquid materials on flat and curved substrates using flexible molds with through-hole and post arrays.

Liquids undergo continuous deformation in the presence of external shear stresses; however, they are pinned between structures owing to their viscosity. Therefore, reshaping the liquids using their intrinsic material properties and structural interfaces is possible. In this study, we used the template-guided forming (TGF) method to reshape and produce oil patterns on flat and curved substrates. To produce oil patterns, we developed two oil patterning methods: direct heating-based oil patterning (DHOP) and solvent evaporation-based oil patterning (SEOP), which were characterized using various oils and solvents. To overcome the limitation of relying solely on liquid patterning that undergoes complete evaporation, we successfully fabricated liquid films using oil and nonpolar organic solvents that exhibit long-term stability. Therefore, achieving durability and control over the film thickness using nonpolar organic solvents has great potential for future applications in microfluidics. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the SEOP method in conjunction with TGF can produce various and unconventional patterns of an organic photoresist (SU-8), which cannot be produced through standard photolithography. Hence, we conclude that the proposed TFG-based oil pattering methods could be highly useful for producing unconventional and unprecedented patterns on flat and curved substrates for various applications, including microelectronics, optics, filtration and separation, biomedical engineering, and nanotechnology.

A new metallization method of modified tannic acid photoresist patterning

A new process of in situ Ag fine pattern formation by direct pattern transfer of a modified tannic acid photoresist and in situ electroless plating in an Ag ion solution was reported.

High-efficiency metalenses for zone-plate-array lithography

To date, zone-plate-array lithography has employed an array of binary pi-phase zone plates, each 135 μm in diameter, operating at 405 nm wavelength, in conjunction with a spatial-light modulator and a moving stage, to expose large-area patterns in photoresist without a mask. Although the low focal efficiency (<34%) and high background (>66%) of such zone plates can be mitigated via proximity-effect correction, increased focal efficiency would enable higher quality patterning. To that end, we have designed flat, diffractive-optical “metalenses.” Each is first divided into Fresnel zones, across which the effective index-of-refraction is modulated by forming appropriate pillars or holes such that diffracted beams interfere constructively at the focal spot, located 100 μm in front of the lens plane. The diffraction efficiency of each zone is simulated using rigorous-coupled-wave analysis. A genetic algorithm is then used to determine if higher efficiency can be achieved by repositioning of the pillars or modifying their widths. MEEP software is used to predict focal efficiency of the completed metalens design. Scanning-electron-beam lithography was used to fabricate effective-index-modulated metalenses in CSAR-62 e-beam resist. In some cases, the focal properties and efficiencies of such structures were measured, yielding focal efficiencies up to 54%. In other cases, the e-beam-written pattern was transferred into a spin-on hard mask and then into an organic dielectric of 1.9 index of refraction using reactive ion etching. Focal efficiencies up to 69% are predicted for such structures, a significant improvement over the binary pi-phase zone plates used previously.

Generating an M2 × N2 spot array with a dual-period hybrid Dammann grating fabricated using maskless projection lithography.

The Dammann grating (DG), which redistributes a collimated laser beam into a spot array with a uniform intensity, is a widely adopted approach for profile measurement. Conventional DGs for dense spot projection are binary phase gratings with precisely designed groove structures, which suffer from low efficiency, poor uniformity, and a hard-to-fabricate fine feature size when utilized for a large field of view (FOV). Here, we propose a new, to the best of our knowledge, hybrid DG architecture consisting of two different grating periods which effectively generates an engineering M2 × N2 spot array with a non-complex structural design. As a proof-of-concept, a dual-period hybrid DG with a two-scale grating period ratio of 11.88 μm/95.04 μm (∼1/8) is designed and fabricated as a means to generate a dense 72 × 72 diffraction spot array with a FOV of 17° × 17°. In addition, the DG exhibits superior performance, with a high efficiency (>60%) and a low non-uniformity (<18%) at a wavelength of 532 nm. This kind of hybrid DG constructed from photoresist patterns with a minimum feature size of ∼1.2 μm can be perfectly fabricated by maskless projection lithography for large-scale and low-cost production. The proposed dual-period hybrid DG can pave the way for depth-perception-related applications such as face unlocking and motion sensing.

Enhancement of pattern quality in maskless plasmonic lithography via spatial loss modulation

Plasmonic lithography, which uses the evanescent electromagnetic (EM) fields to generate image beyond the diffraction limit, has been successfully demonstrated as an alternative lithographic technology for creating sub-10 nm patterns. However, the obtained photoresist pattern contour in general exhibits a very poor fidelity due to the near-field optical proximity effect (OPE), which is far below the minimum requirement for nanofabrication. Understanding the near-field OPE formation mechanism is important to minimize its impact on nanodevice fabrication and improve its lithographic performance. In this work, a point-spread function (PSF) generated by a plasmonic bowtie-shaped nanoaperture (BNA) is employed to quantify the photon-beam deposited energy in the near-field patterning process. The achievable resolution of plasmonic lithography has successfully been enhanced to approximately 4 nm with numerical simulations. A field enhancement factor (F) as a function of gap size is defined to quantitatively evaluate the strong near-field enhancement effect excited by a plasmonic BNA, which also reveals that the high enhancement of the evanescent field is due to the strong resonant coupling between the plasmonic waveguide and the surface plasmon waves (SPWs). However, based on an investigation of the physical origin of the near-field OPE, and the theoretical calculations and simulation results indicate that the evanescent-field-induced rapid loss of high-k information is one of the main optical contributors to the near-field OPE. Furthermore, an analytic formula is introduced to quantitatively analyze the effect of the rapidly decaying feature of the evanescent field on the final exposure pattern profile. Notably, a fast and effective optimization method based on the compensation principle of the exposure dose is proposed to reduce the pattern distortion by modulating the exposure map with dose leveling. The proposed pattern quality enhancement method can open new possibilities in the manufacture of nanostructures with ultrahigh pattern quality via plasmonic lithography, which would find potentially promising applications in high density optical storage, biosensors, and plasmonic nanofocusing.

Microstructure and resolution of etched patterns of Photoresist (AZP4620) layers spin-coated under artificially elevated gravity accelerations by two-axis spin coating technology

Microstructure and resolution of etched patterns of Photoresist (AZP4620) layers spin-coated under artificially elevated gravity accelerations by two-axis spin coating technology

Integration of microlenses on surface-micromachined optical ultrasound transducer array to improve detection sensitivity for parallel data readout.

This Letter reports the integration of microlenses (MLs) on a surface-micromachined optical ultrasound transducer (SMOUT) array to enable parallel ultrasound data readout from a multiplicity of elements. The MLs are fabricated by photoresist patterning and reflow, and their focal lengths are optimized with parametric studies. Experiments are conducted to characterize the acoustic responsivity and its uniformity of the SMOUT-ML elements under different conditions. The temporal stability of SMOUT-ML elements immersed in water is assessed by monitoring their acoustic response continuously for 1 week. Parallel ultrasound signal readout is simulated with a small group of SMOUT-ML elements. Experimental results show that high acoustic sensitivity and excellent long-term stability can be achieved by the ML-integrated SMOUT array, which could provide a promising approach for enabling parallel ultrasound data acquisition for improving the imaging speed of 3D acoustic tomography.

Critical dimension prediction of metal oxide nanoparticle photoresists for electron beam lithography using a recurrent neural network.

The critical dimension (CD) of lithographic patterns is the most significant indicator for evaluating the imaging performance of photoresists, and its value is seriously affected by process conditions. However, the lithographic imaging system is highly nonlinear, and extensive exposure experiments are needed to obtain the desired CD. This consumes lots of time, manpower, and cost in screening for optimal process conditions. Here, we report a combined electron beam lithography (EBL) experiment and recurrent neural network (RNN) study on the CDs of metal oxide nanoparticle photoresists, and establish a CD RNN model. Leveraging the RNN model, a process condition filter is developed to screen suitable process conditions. The experimental results demonstrate that the prediction accuracy of the CD model exceeds 93%, and the photoresist patterns under the screened process conditions can satisfy the requirements of a preset CD. This work opens up a novel perspective for accurate EBL process modeling, and provides guidance for EBL experiments.

Self-aligned patterning on β-Ga2O3 substrates via backside-exposure photolithography

β-Ga2O3 has not been patterned using backside-exposure lithography, despite its high potential applications in future power electronics and its transparency to conventional lithography light sources. Here, a patterned metal on a β-Ga2O3 substrate surface was used as an embedded photomask to demonstrate the applicability of backside-exposure lithography to β-Ga2O3 substrates. Self-aligned photoresist patterning, lift-off, and etching processes were demonstrated for an AZ5214E photoresist in both the positive and negative processing modes. The findings suggest that backside-exposure photolithography is a promising fabrication approach for future β-Ga2O3-based devices.

Fabrication of Microfluidic Devices for Continuously Monitoring Yeast Aging.

For several decades, aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been studied in hopes of understanding its causes and identifying conserved pathways that also drive aging in multicellular eukaryotes. While the short lifespan and unicellular nature of budding yeast has allowed its aging process to be observed by dissecting mother cells away from daughter cells under a microscope, this technique does not allow continuous, high-resolution, and high-throughput studies to be performed. Here, we present a protocol for constructing microfluidic devices for studying yeast aging that are free from these limitations. Our approach uses multilayer photolithography and soft lithography with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to construct microfluidic devices with distinct single-cell trapping regions as well as channels for supplying media and removing recently born daughter cells. By doing so, aging yeast cells can be imaged at scale for the entirety of their lifespans, and the dynamics of molecular processes within single cells can be simultaneously tracked using fluorescence microscopy. Key features This protocol requires access to a photolithography lab in a cleanroom facility. Photolithography process for patterning photoresist on silicon wafers with multiple different feature heights. Soft lithography process for making PDMS microfluidic devices from silicon wafer templates.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE PHOTORESIST PATTERNING OF GLASS AND SILICON WITH MICROHOLES VIA MASKLESS PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY

Maskless photolithography, a useful tool used in patterning the photoresist which acts as a mask prior to the actual etching process of substrate, has attracted attention mainly due to the taking advantage of reducing cost because of not requiring a preprepared mask and freedom in creating the desired pattern on any kind of substrate. In this study, we performed the positive photoresist patterning with microstructures on both glass and silicon substrates via maskless photolithography. Specifically, we examined the discrepancies between the transparent (glass) and reflective (silicon) substrates even though the photolithographic process has been carried out under the same conditions. Since the positive photoresist patterning was the subject of this study, we could successfully produce the microholes with almost circular shapes and properly placed in squarely packed on both substrates as confirmed by optical microscopy and profilometer mapping measurements. We observed additional rings around the holes when silicon was used as substrate while very clear microholes were obtained for glass. Besides, the number of the rings increased when the writing speed of laser (velocity) reduced. We claim that these important findings can be attributed to the standing wave effect phenomenon which results from the multiple reflections through the semi-transparent photoresist coated on the reflective surface of the polished silicon. In brief, we reveal an important conclusion, in this study, based on the differences in formation of the microholes only due to the substate preference while all the photolithographic process parameters are kept the same.

Fabrication of High‐Performance Devices on Water‐Soluble Lead Halide Perovskites Using Water‐Based Photolithography

AbstractThe alluring optoelectronic properties of lead halide perovskites have continued to attract enormous interest from the scientific community. They are among the brightest candidates for future optoelectronic devices. However, making active devices out of single nano/microcrystals of lead halide perovskites has been a major hurdle and this has dulled its position as a future optoelectric material considerably. The notoriety of not withstanding the steps in photolithography is at the core of this problem. Here, a noninvasive sacrificial layer‐assisted photolithography technique is reported to successfully make active nano/microdevices on single nano/microcrystals of water‐soluble lead halide perovskite. The sacrificial layer can easily be removed without altering the photoresist patterns which makes it possible to fabricate complex high‐performance devices on water‐soluble samples. It is believed that this technique can easily integrate with existing technologies and can elevate the research and application in the field of lead halide perovskites and other water‐soluble materials to new heights.

EMSCs‐Seeded Micro‐Stripe Patterned Polycaprolactone Promoting Sciatic Nerve Regeneration

AbstractTransplantation of a synthetic polymer nerve conduit carrying stem cells is promising for treating peripheral nerve injury. In this study, a micropatterned inner surface of polycaprolactone (PCL) nerve conduit cellularized with nasal respiratory mucosa‐derived ectoderm mesenchymal stem cells (EMSCs) is adopted for peripheral nerve regeneration. The PCL microstructure grating is fabricated by soft nanoimprint lithography (NIL), whose templates can be easily transferred from the Ebeam photoresist pattern. The most suitable microstructure is carefully chosen to support EMSCs alignment and nerve regeneration. In vitro, the micropatterned PCL nerve conduit greatly enhanced the directional alignment of EMSCs and the MBP and S100 expression of myelin proteins. Additionally, the micropatterned conduit preseeded with EMSCs significantly stimulated the axon‐directed extension of neural stem cells. In vivo, micropatterned PCL conduits cotransplanted with EMSCs enhanced motor function and promoted sciatic nerve regeneration and extension in a rat model of sciatic nerve defect. Taken together, this “all‐in‐one” nerve guidance conduit makes sciatic nerve regeneration and morphological repairing accelerated, which has a potential clinical application in neural tissue engineering.

Effect of fabrication processes before atomic layer deposition on β-Ga2O3/HfO2/Cr/Au metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitors

As β-Ga2O3 becomes a popular semiconductor material for high-power electronic devices, researchers are presenting innovative device structures and fabrication processes to achieve high performance and enhanced reliability of these devices. In many cases, these fabrication processes involve the formation of mesas, trenches, and other structures by plasma etching of β-Ga2O3 with Cl2 and/or BCl3. This paper looks at the effects of photoresist patterning and BCl3 plasma etching prior to atomic layer deposition of HfO2 dielectric to form metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitors. The β-Ga2O3/HfO2 interface is critical for controlling device characteristics such as flat-band voltage and maximum capacitance under accumulation and can be greatly affected by roughness and chemical residues. Capacitance-voltage data and atomic force microscope (AFM) scans indicate that photoresist and BCl3 residues are not adequately removed with acetone/IPA/DIW cleaning but are removed using piranha (H2O2/H2SO4) cleaning before deposition of the dielectric.

Adhesion and collapse of extreme ultraviolet photoresists and the role of underlayers

Pattern collapse and photoresist scumming are major limiting factors to achieve a failure-free process window in extreme ultraviolet lithography. Previous works on this topic have empirically proven the importance of matching photoresist and underlayer surface energy, and the role played by developer liquid in wet development. In this work, we extend those concepts and formulate a figure of merit for the free energy at the exposed and unexposed photoresist-underlayer-developer interfaces. This figure of merit provides a tool to optimize the underlayer surface energy components that best match a given photoresist and developer process. The model is tested against experimental patterning of a chemically amplified resist at pitch 32 nm and pitch 80-nm line spaces, successfully predicting the likelihood of pattern collapse and photoresist scumming. Moreover, we write a quantitative expression for the peeling force acting on photoresist lines owing to unbalanced capillary forces and the threshold energy at which film delamination onsets. It is shown that adhesion and scumming are two manifestations of the same phenomenon at these interfaces.

DRIE 시스템을 이용한 식각 공정에서 RF 소스 전력과 PR 패턴 사이즈가 깊은 Silicon Via 측벽 표면 형상에 미치는 영향 평가

It has been very difficult to etch deep silicon via with photo-resist (PR) during deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process because of the erosion of PR and the formation of vertical striations. The effects of RF source power and PR pattern size were researched on the etch rate, via top size and etch depth. The PR mask patterns with 10 μm thickness were composed of 10, 20, 30 and 40 μm squares. The etch rates and the etch profiles of deep silicon vias were monitored by the cross sectional FE-SEM images. As the RF source power and PR pattern size were increased, we obtained higher etch rate and deeper etch profiles. However, we observed the vertical striations at the surface of deep silicon vias at higher RF source power.