In this research program we are synthesizing and characterizing a set of macromolecular materials, Nano-Building Blocks (NBBs) with ~1 nm3volume, capable of serving as �pixelated� photoresists for the next generation of photolithography. Specifically, we are producing silsesquioxane and polyoxometalate cored NBBs for thin-films and evaluating film-forming capabilities, EUV patterning, and dielectric properties for semiconductor industry applications. Each potential NBB possesses multiple functional vertices and high thermal stability. Of significant interest is the polyoxometalate core, composed of high atomic number metal atoms, which show a relatively high absorption of 13.5 and 6.7 nm photons.The flexibility of the silsesquioxane and polyoxometalate-imide chemistry is well suited to this project, allowing for the grafting of a wide variety of organic functionality to the discrete inorganic core. The functionality explored here is polymerizable, however future opportunities exist to incorporate optical and ion-transport functionality.With these capabilities, hybrid NBBs present the opportunity to produce novel materials and study the resulting nanoscale behavior. One potential use is the development of pixelated, non-chemically amplified, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresists, while additional opportunities include low and high-k dielectric thin-films and radiation hardening. Opportunities in tuning dielectric response are expected by manipulating the connectivity between adjacent NBBs and mixing NBBs.The result of this work will be a scalable and flexible NBB platform for EUV photoresists and photo-curable, tunable, dielectric films for the next generations of semiconductor devices with opportunities in a wide variety of thin-film applications. This platform will be characterized by its use of scalable syntheses presenting extreme flexibility in order to adapt to processing requirement in the EUV regime.

Hybrid nano building blocks for pixelated EUV photoresists and dielectric thin-films

248th National Meeting (2014)

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