D. Collins

Uncooled IR Nanobolometers Fabricated by Electron Beam Lithography and a MEMS/CMOS Process

We combine electron beam lithography (EBL) with conventional microscale metal deposition and etch process technologies, to fabricate bolometer devices with nanoscale feature critical dimensions (CDs). We report the creation of titanium (Ti) bolometer devices with 70 nm minimum feature CDs, and total bolometer film thicknesses ranging between 40 nm and 120 nm. Our new nanobolometer devices integrate with conventional CMOS and MEMS fabrication processing, to create thermally isolated sensors with nanoscale feature sizes on a 0.5 mum CMOS base process. We present temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) data for our new devices, and report a nanobolometer TCR performance of 0.22%/K at 70 nm CDs, a TCR value comparable to figures reported for Ti-based uncooled microbolometer devices.

Fabricating Nanoscale Device Features Using the 2-Step NERIME Nanolithography Process

The 2-step negative resist image by dry etching (2-step NERIME) focused ion beam (FIB) top surface imaging (TSI) process is a novel nanolithography technique for creating nanometer scale resist features using conventional DNQ/novolak resists. The 2-step NERIME process combines the advantages of FIB lithography and TSI processing, delivering high aspect ratio nanometer-scale resist critical dimensions (CDs). Previous work has reported 90nm resist CDs on topography using the 2-Step NERIME process, and 80nm etched features masked using resist patterned by the 2-step NERIME process. We further extend the 2-step NERIME process, and demonstrate its potential as a low-cost and convenient nanolithography option for proof-of-concept nanoscale fabrication, through the creation of 90nm titanium device features.

Patterning nanoscale resist features on topography substrates using the 2-step NERIME FIB TSI process

The 2-step negative resist image by dry etching (2-step NERIME) focused ion beam (FIB) top surface imaging (TSI) process was previously reported as a suitable technique for patterning nanometer scale features in DNQ/novolak based resists, on a range of planar substrate materials. We demonstrate, for the first time, 90 nm resist features patterned using Shipley SPR6600 resist and the 2-step NERIME process over substrate topography. The resultant resist features exhibit excellent profile control across topography, and demonstrate the suitability of the 2-step NERIME process as a nanolithography technique for applications requiring nanometer resist critical dimension (CD) and profile control over substrate topography.

Patterning nanometer resist features on planar & topography substrates using the 2-step NERIME FIB top surface imaging process

The 2-step negative resist image by dry etching (2-step NERIME) focused ion beam (FIB) top surface imaging (TSI) process has been previously reported as an excellent technique for patterning nanometer scale features in DNQ/novolak based photoresists on silicon substrates. In this paper we demonstrate that the 2-step NERIME process can be used to pattern nanometer scale resist features on different substrate materials and topography substrates.