Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T07:31:59.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of Mask Materials on Near Field Optical Nanolithography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Sharee J. McNab
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND
Richard J. Blaikie
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND
Get access

Abstract

Simulations have been performed to study the effects of different masking materials (Cr, Au, W and Si) on near field optical contact lithography. For near field amplitude masks it is found that Cr is an excellent material at blue/UV wavelengths, due to its small skin depth. Au is too transmissive to be considered. W has a small skin depth like Cr, although its dielectric behaviour at blue/UV wavelengths leads to image reversal phenomena that may be undesirable. Image reversal is even more pronounced for Si. For Evanescent Interferometric Lithography (EIL) - a technique that relies on surface-plasmon-induced resonant enhancement of the evanescent fields beneath a grating - Cr and W are again superior to Au, and significant intensity enhancements are predicted beyond the grating cutoff. For Si the resonant enhancements can be very large and narrow band, which may be of great advantage. For example, near field exposure intensity approximately 100 times the incident intensity is predicted for a 270 nm period silicon grating illuminated at a wavelength less than 10 percent higher than cutoff.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Smith, H. I., Efremow, N. and Kelly, P. L., J. Electrochem. Soc. 121, 1503 (1974);Google Scholar
2 Fischer, U. C. and Zingsheim, H. P., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 19, 881 (1981).Google Scholar
3 Alkaisi, M. M., Blaikie, R. J., McNab, S. J., Cheung, R., Cumming, D. R. S., Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 3560 (1999).Google Scholar
4 Goodberlet, J. G., Appl. Phys Lett. 76, 667 (2000).Google Scholar
5 McNab, S. J. and Blaikie, R. J., Appl. Opt. 39, 20 (2000).Google Scholar
6 Blaikie, R. J. and McNab, S. J., Appl. Opt. 40, 1692 (2001).Google Scholar
7 Alkaisi, M. M., Blaikie, R. J. and McNab, S. J., Adv. Mater. 13, 877 (2001).Google Scholar
8 Paulus, M., Schmid, H., Michel, B. and Martin, O.J.F., Microelectron. Eng. 57–58, 109 (2001).Google Scholar
9. Hafner, C., The Generalised Multipole Technique for Computational Electromagnetics (Artech House, Boston, 1990).Google Scholar
10 McNab, S. J., PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (2001).Google Scholar
11 Tennant, D. M. et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 12, 3689 (1994).Google Scholar
12 Lide, D. R. ed., Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 75th ed. 1994), pp. 12117.Google Scholar