High-efficiency diffraction gratings for EUV and soft x-rays using spin-on-carbon underlayers
Open accessAbstract
We report on the fabrication and characterization of high-resolution gratings with high efficiency in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray ranges using spin-on-carbon (SOC) underlayers. We demonstrate the fabrication of diffraction gratings down to 20 nm half-pitch (HP) on Si 3 N 4 membranes with a bilayer of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) and spin-on-carbon and show their performance as a grating mask for extreme ultraviolet interference lithography (EUV-IL). High-resolution patterning of HSQ is possible only for thin films due to pattern collapse. The combination of this high-resolution resist with SOC circumvents this problem and enables the fabrication of high aspect ratio nanostructures. Rigorous coupled-wave analysis shows that the bilayer gratings exhibit higher diffraction efficiency than what is feasible with a grating made of HSQ. We also demonstrate a simple and accurate method to experimentally measure the diffraction efficiency of high-resolution gratings by measuring the relative ratio of the dose-to-clear curves of the photoresist. The measured diffraction efficiencies are in good agreement with the theoretically predicted values. Furthermore, we verify our calculations and measurements by printing line/space patterns in chemically amplified resists down to 10 nm HP with both HSQ and bilayer grating masks using EUV-IL. The improved diffraction efficiency of the bilayers is expected to have applications not only in gratings for interference lithography, but also in Fresnel zone plates and gratings for spectroscopy in the EUV and soft x-ray ranges.
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Research works printed but not linked: 2
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Extreme ultraviolet lithography
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Self-citationExtreme ultraviolet lithography reaches 5 nm resolution
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Self-citationDevelopment of EUV interference lithography for 25 nm line/space patterns
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- Authors
- Wang, X., Kazazis, D., Tseng, L.-T., Robinson, A. P. G., & Ekinci, Y.
- Affiliations
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kazazis, Dimitrios
- Venue
- Nanotechnology
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Published
- 2021-11-15
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 065301
- ISSN
- 0957-4484 (ISSN-L)
- 1361-6528
- OpenAlex
- W3207324488
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 0.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.dora.lib4ri.ch
- Licence
- Locations
- Nanotechnology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DORA PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Paul Scherrer Institut
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Advancements in Photolithography Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Surfaces, Coatings and Films › Optical Coatings and Gratings
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Radiation › Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques
- Keywords
- diffraction gratings, hydrogen silsesquioxane, soft X-ray lithography, diffraction efficiency, silicon nitride membranes, pattern collapse, rigorous coupled-wave analysis, chemically amplified resists, line/space patterning, Fresnel zone plate, high-resolution patterning
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