Oxide thin films for nanometer scale electron beam lithography

The exposure response of high resolution oxide resist materials has been examined under high intensity irradiation conditions (∼1x105 A/cm2) to determine the relationships among film characteristics, exposure requirements, and ultimate resolution, and to explore further the processes responsible for ablative exposure. Amorphous films of Al2O3, Y2O3, Sc2O3, 3Al2O3·2SiO2, and MgO·Al2O3 were deposited by rf sputtering onto substrates cooled to -196 degree C and found to require an exposure dose of approximately 5x103 C/cm2 to complete exposure. Amorphous film structure was found to be necessary to achieve rapid removal of material during exposure. Material properties also found to influence irradiation response and help guide the selection of new materials included ionic character, heat of formation, and melting point. Film thickness was found to strongly influence both exposure requirements and resolution, an optimum thickness occurring at approximately 90 nm in amorphous Al2O3. The dose requirement in 90 nm thick amorphous Al2O3 was determined to be 2.5x103 C/cm2, which is two to three orders of magnitude lower than that of oxide films produced by other techniques, and the resolution of the rf sputtered oxide films allowed the production of 5.0 nm holes on 8.1 nm centers. A dedicated STEM was used for exposure studies as well as imaging, microdiffraction analysis, and monitoring of the transmitted beam current, and allowed a qualitative model of the exposure process in rf sputtered oxide resists to be developed