We briefly review of the major results of two current projects. The first involves a mechanistic study of EUV induced nanopatterning of inorganic resists. A set of surface and thin film methods is used to analyze the chemistry of the film before exposure, after exposure but before chemical development, and after development. The basic mechanism is that EUV photons of approximately 92eV are used to create photoelectrons over a region defined by the EUV mask, the wavelength of the photons, and diffraction effects. The photoelectrons undergo scattering as they travel through the resist and adjacent materials, generating secondary electrons as they lose energy, eventually thermalizing. Our best current information shows that the electrons break bonds, most likely associated with specific ligands within the resist, enable new bond formation between clusters within the film, converting the resist from a soluble condensed phase cluster-based gel to an insoluble (crosslinked or solid state) film. Electrons as low as 5eV appear to initiate the chemistry that results in patterning. One model based on our results and current models of thermalization implies that it is the electron energy loss profile, as a function of distance from the original EUV absorption site, for the primary and secondary electrons, that defines the ultimate resolution obtained for a given resist. The second project introduces a new nanoscale photoelectron spectroscopic method we have developed to determine the potential profile of a dielectric placed (vertically) between two electrodes. We first describe results from a graphene/SiO2/Si structure, which show a uniform linear potential drop across a dielectric with interesting discontinuities at both interfaces. Current studies involving more complex nanolaminates (e.g HfO2, SiO2 and Al2O3) and other materials will be discussed. Finally, results on ionic liquid interfaces will also be presented.

Characterization of CSMC resists and other nano-material structures: Results and methods

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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