Lithography

About: Lithography is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 23507 publications have been published within this topic receiving 348321 citations.

Excimer Laser-Based Lithography: A Deep Ultraviolet Wafer Stepper

Abstract: A deep UV projection system has been developed by modifying a commercial step and repeat exposure tool to operate at 248nm with an all-quartz lens and a KrF excimer laser. The lens is a 5X reduction lens with a minimum field size of 14.5 mm and a numerical aperture which is variable from 0.20 to 0.38. This produces a practical resolution of 0.5μm over the 14.5 mm field, with 0.4μm resolution achievable in a lab situation. Furthermore, by reducing the numerical aperture it is possible to print 0.8Am lines and spaces over a field larger than 14.5 mm with depth of focus greater than ±2μm. The data presented are results of extensive resolution studies as well as applications to real submicron devices. Some of the advantages and limitations of laser-based lithography are discussed, including possible directions for new laser development.

Single-digit-resolution nanopatterning with extreme ultraviolet light for the 2.5 nm technology node and beyond.

Abstract: All nanofabrication methods come with an intrinsic resolution limit, set by their governing physical principles and instrumentation. In the case of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography at 13.5 nm wavelength, this limit is set by light diffraction and is ≈3.5 nm. In the semiconductor industry, the feasibility of reaching this limit is not only a key factor for the current developments in lithography technologies, but also is an important factor in deciding whether photon-based lithography will be used for future high-volume manufacturing. Using EUV-interference lithography we show patterning with 7 nm resolution in making dense periodic line-space structures with 14 nm periodicity. Achieving such a cutting-edge resolution has been possible by integrating a high-quality synchrotron beam, precise nanofabrication of masks, very stable exposures instrumentation, and utilizing effective photoresists. We have carried out exposure on silicon- and hafnium-based photoresists and we demonstrated the extraordinary capability of the latter resist to be used as a hard mask for pattern transfer into Si. Our results confirm the capability of EUV lithography in the reproducible fabrication of dense patterns with single-digit resolution. Moreover, it shows the capability of interference lithography, using transmission gratings, in evaluating the resolution limits of photoresists.

Self-aligned inkjet printing of highly conducting gold electrodes with submicron resolution

Abstract: Self-aligned printing is a recently developed bottom-up printing technique which utilizes the unique droplet motion on heterogeneous surfaces to define sub-100-nm critical features and surpasses the resolution which can commonly be achieved by direct printing by two orders of magnitude. Here we extend this method, which was originally implemented with conductive polymer inks, to fabrication of functional conductive nanostructures with gold nanoparticle ink. We also designed a configuration where the ink was printed between two lithographically defined patterns to facilitate the study of the channel formation. Channel lengths from 4μm down to 60nm were achieved by controlling the surface tension and drying time of the ink. A fluid dynamical model is presented to explain the mechanism by which the channel forms in the self-aligned printing technique. Field-effect transistors fabricated using gold self-aligned printed source-drain electrodes exhibit significantly improved output currents than those using con...

Lithography system and method of manufacturing devices using the lithography system

Abstract: A lithography system for exposing a photosensitive member includes a photosensitive member placement unit, and an interference optical system. The interference optical system produces interference fringes on the photosensitive member so that the interference fringes will be transferred to the photosensitive member. The interference fringes are aligned based on detected light that has passed through the interference optical system.