掩模投影成像干涉光刻研究

掩模投影成像干涉光刻技术以在很小或几乎不增加光刻系统成本的基础上来提高光刻分辨率为目的,充分利用系统的有限孔径,将掩模图形不同的空间频率分别进行传递,最终以高分辨率对掩模成像。本文阐述了IIL的基本原理,介绍了一种实验系统,并给出了部分模拟和实验结果。研究结果表明,掩模投影成像干涉光刻技术比传统投影光刻能够得到更高的光刻分辨率。     

采用双向偏置曝光的成像干涉光刻技术

成像干涉光刻技术(IIL)具有干涉光刻技术(IL)的高分辨力和光学光刻技术(OL)产生任意形状集成电路特征图形的能力。在IIL中,按掩模图形的不同空间频率成份分区曝光,并使其在抗蚀剂基片上非相干叠加,得到高分辨抗蚀剂图形。本文在研究一般三次曝光IIL原理基础上,提出采用沿X轴正、负方向以及沿Y轴正、负方向偏置的双向偏置照明,分别曝光 X方向、-X方向、 Y方向、-Y方向的高空间频率分量并与垂直于掩模方向的低空间频率分量曝光相结合的五次曝光IIL。理论和计算模拟表明,该方法可以提高图形对比度和分辨力,并减小因调焦误差引起的图形横向位移误差,有利于改善抗蚀剂图形质量。     

成像干涉光刻技术及其频域分析

传统光学光刻技术(OL)由于其固有的限制,虽然可对任意图形成像,但分辨力较低。无掩模激光干涉光刻技术(IL)的分辨力可达l /4,却局限于周期图形。成像干涉光刻技术(IIL)结合了二者的优点,用同一个系统分次传递物体不同的空间频率,能更有效地传递物体的信息,以高分辨力对任意图形成像。初步模拟研究表明,在同样的曝光波长和数值孔径下,对同样特征尺寸的掩模图形,IIL得到的结果好于OL。在CD=150nm时,IIL相对于OL把分辨力提高了1.5倍多。     

Nanostructures and functional materials fabricated by interferometric lithography

Interferometric lithography (IL) is a powerful technique for the definition of large-area, nanometer-scale, periodically patterned structures. Patterns are recorded in a light-sensitive medium, such as a photoresist, that responds nonlinearly to the intensity distribution associated with the interference of two or more coherent beams of light. The photoresist patterns produced with IL are a platform for further fabrication of nanostructures and growth of functional materials and are building blocks for devices. This article provides a brief review of IL technologies and focuses on various applications for nanostructures and functional materials based on IL including directed self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles, nanophotonics, semiconductor materials growth, and nanofluidic devices. Perspectives on future directions for IL and emerging applications in other fields are presented.     

Photopatterning of polybutadiene substrates by interferometric ultraviolet lithography: fabrication of phospholipid microarrays

Gratings are written holographically with low power (10 mW/cm(2)) 244 nm UV light on thin films of polybutadiene rubber polymer. The increase of hydrophilicity-wettability of polybutadiene films is measured over UV-exposed regions. Sequential fabrication of two orthogonal gratings results in hydrophilic microarrays having applications as functionalized substrates for immobilizing biomolecules. This is demonstrated by immobilizing a phospholipid in a microarray pattern.     

Nanopatterning with interferometric lithography using a compact /spl lambda/=46.9-nm laser

We report the imprinting of nanometer-scale gratings by interferometric lithography at /spl lambda/=46.9 nm using an Ne-like Ar capillary discharge laser. Gratings with periods as small as 55 nm were imprinted on poly-methyl methacrylate using a Lloyd's mirror interferometer. This first demonstration of nanopatterning using an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser illustrates the potential of compact EUV lasers in nanotechnology applications.     

Metal-mesh lithography

Metal-mesh lithography (MML) is a practical hybrid of microcontact printing and capillary force lithography that can be applied over millimeter-sized areas with a high level of uniformity. MML can be achieved by blotting various inks onto substrates through thin copper grids, relying on preferential wetting and capillary interactions between template and substrate for pattern replication. The resulting mesh patterns, which are inverted relative to those produced by stenciling or serigraphy, can be reproduced with low micrometer resolution. MML can be combined with other surface chemistry and lift-off methods to create functional microarrays for diverse applications, such as periodic islands of gold nanorods and patterned corrals for fibroblast cell cultures.     

Evanescent Wave Mixing on Nonlinear Surfaces

Abstract

The problem of using evanescent fields in nonlinear optics is discussed by employing results on quantization of evanescent waves. It is shown that the peculiar properties of the momentum of evanescent modes can be used to realize non-critical optical frequency mixing. In the first illustration, the case of surface second-harmonic generation is discussed. It is then shown that, in the case of difference-frequency generation, it is possible to generate a ‘completely evanescent mode’ which is ‘trapped’ by the surface, which becomes a two-dimensional waveguide.     

Photon-sieve lithography

We present the first lithography results that use high-numerical-aperture photon sieves as focusing elements in a scanning-optical-beam-lithography system [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 21, 2810 (2003)]. Photon sieves are novel optical elements that offer the advantages of higher resolution and improved image contrast compared with traditional diffractive optics such as zone plates [Nature 414, 184 (2001)]. We fabricated the highest-numerical-aperture photon sieves reported to date and experimentally verified their focusing characteristics. We propose two new designs of the photon sieve that have the potential to significantly increase focusing efficiency.     

Applications of Fiber-Optic Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy

Abstract

The evanescent wave (EW) component of light propagated via fiber-optic waveguides can be used to both sense and transmit information regarding the immediate environment of the fiber's surface. In this article, an outline of the theoretical and practical aspects of this emerging methodology is given, as well as a discussion of the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of the technique. Examples are given of how EW spectroscopy may be used in the analysis of pharmaceutical systems. Evaluation of attributes of components of EW spectroscopy allows prediction of the future for this rapidly evolving area of photonics.     

Imaging interferometric microscopy

Imaging interferometric microscopy (IIM) is a synthetic aperture imaging approach providing resolution to the transmission medium (refractive index n) linear systems limit extending to greater, similarlambda/4n using only low-numerical-aperture (low-NA) optics. IIM uses off-axis illumination to access high spatial frequencies along with interferometric reintroduction of a zero-order reference beam on the low-NA side of the optical system. For a thin object normal to the optical axis, the frequency space limit is [(1+NA)n/lambda], while tilting the object plane allows collection of diffraction information up to the material transmission bandpass-limited spatial frequency of 2n/lambda. Tilting transforms the spatial frequencies; the algorithm to reset to the correct image frequencies is described. IIM involves combining multiple subimages; the image reconstruction procedures are discussed. A mean-square-error metric is introduced. For binary objects, sigmoidal filtering of the image provides significant resolution improvement.     

Evanescent field sensors with periodically segmented waveguides

An evanescent field-sensing configuration, based on a periodically segmented waveguide, is proposed and analyzed. It has advantages over existing configurations that relate to its simple realization (in single-step lithography). The sensitivity and operating point can be controlled easily with geometric parameters alone, which facilitates realization of more complex sensing arrays.     

Evanescent wave holographic recording in a photopolymer

We present a study of holographic recording with an evanescent reference and a homogeneous (plane) object wave. The grating step was 324 nm. The dependence of the diffraction efficiency on exposure was investigated. The maximum value obtained was 0.01% at 5 mJ cm^?2 exposure. The optimal pre-exposure, needed for grating adhesion to the glass substrate, was 1 μJ cm^?2.     

Absorbance-modulation optical lithography

We describe a new mode of optical lithography called absorbance-modulation optical lithography (AMOL) in which a thin film of photochromic material is placed on top of a conventional photoresist and illuminated simultaneously by a focal spot of wavelength lambda1 and a ring-shaped illumination of wavelength lambda2. The lambda1 radiation converts the photochromic material from an opaque to a transparent configuration, thereby enabling exposure of the photoresist, while the lambda2 radiation reverses the transformation. As a result of these competing effects, the point-spread function that exposes the resist is strongly compressed, resulting in higher photolithographic resolution and information density. We show by modeling that the point-spread-function compression achieved via AMOL depends only on the absorbance distribution in the photostationary state. In this respect, absorbance modulation represents an optical nonlinearity that depends on the intensity ratio of lambda1 and lambda2 and not on the absolute intensity of either one alone. By inserting material parameters into the model, a lithographic resolution corresponding to lambda1/13 is predicted.     

纳米球刻蚀技术

纳米球刻蚀技术是一种并行的制备纳米点阵的自组装方法,其核心是二维有序纳米胶体球阵列掩膜的制备。本文详细介绍了二维有序纳米胶体球阵列掩膜的各种自组装合成原理与方法,分析了各种工艺参数的纳米阵列的影响。最后,综述了纳米球刻蚀技术的发展状况与趋势。