Jinhee Jang

Resolution Limit in Plasmonic Lithography for Practical Applications beyond 2x-nm Half Pitch

A theoretical model is introduced to evaluate the ultimate resolution of plasmonic lithography using a ridge aperture. The calculated and experimental results of the line array pattern depth are compared for various half pitches. The theoretical analysis predicts that the resolution of plasmonic lithography strongly depends on the ridge gap, achieving values under 1x nm with a ridge gap smaller than 10 nm. A micrometer-scale circular contact probe is fabricated for high speed patterning with high positioning accuracy, which can be extended to a high-density probe array. Using the circular contact probe, high-density line array patterns are recorded with a half pitch up to 22 nm and good agreement is obtained between the theoretical model and experiment. To record the high density line array patterns, the line edge roughness (LER) is reduced to ≈17 nm from 29 nm using a well-controlled developing process with a smaller molecular weight KOH-based developer at a temperature below 10°C.

Accurate near-field lithography modeling and quantitative mapping of the near-field distribution of a plasmonic nanoaperture in a metal

In nanolithography using optical near-field sources to push the critical dimension below the diffraction limit, optimization of process parameters is of utmost importance. Herein we present a simple analytic model to predict photoresist profiles with a localized evanescent exposure that decays exponentially in a photoresist of finite contrast. We introduce the concept of nominal developing thickness (NDT) to determine the proper developing process that yields the best topography of the exposure profile fitting to the isointensity contour. Based on this model, we experimentally investigated the NDT and obtained exposure profiles produced by the near-field distribution of a bowtie-shaped nanoaperture. The profiles were properly fit to the calculated results obtained by the finite differential time domain method. Using the threshold exposure dose of a photoresist, we can determine the absolute intensity of the intensity distribution of the near field and analyze the difference in decay rates of the near field distributions obtained via experiment and calculation. For maximum depth of 41 nm, we estimate the uncertainties in the measurements of profile and intensity to be less than 6% and about 1%, respectively. We expect this method will be useful in detecting the absolute value of the near-field distribution produced by nano-scale devices.

Plasmonic lithography for fabricating nanoimprint masters with multi-scale patterns

We successfully demonstrate the practical application of plasmonic lithography to fabricate nanoimprint masters. Using the properties of a non-propagating near-field, we achieve high-speed multi-scale patterning with different exposure time during the scanning. We modulate the width of the line patterns using a pulse light source with different duty cycles during the scanning of the probe. For practical application in plasmonic lithography, we apply a deep reactive ion etching process to transfer an arbitrary fluidic channel into a silicon substrate and fabricate a high-aspect-ratio imprint master. Subsequently, we carry out the imprint process to replicate the fluidic channel with an aspect ratio of 7.2. For pattern width below 100 nm, we adopt a three-layer structure of photoresist, hard layer, and polymer to record the near field and form a hard mask and transfer mask. Using the multilayer structure, we fabricate high-resolution nanoimprint masters in a silicon substrate with an aspect ratio greater than 1.

Relative positioning method for near-field beam spot array with optical microscope image of lithographic patterns using linear regression

A method for simply analyzing the relation between spot positions of near-field beam sources with micrometer pitch is proposed using an optical microscope. Based on the locations of spots in an optical microscopy image of lithographic patterns, the effective relative position is derived using simple linear regression. Numerical analysis is performed to introduce the concept and to evaluate the methodology with random noise. The accuracy and uncertainty of the proposed method are discussed. To confirm the method’s feasibility, the experiments are conducted using fabricated probe array, and the experimental and numerical results are compared on the basis of uncertainty. An arbitrary pattern is recorded with respect to relative coordinates obtained based on the effective positions. We suggest a simple strategy for controlling beam spot array locations for pattern design in near-field lithography with less than 5-nm uncertainty.

Design of a high positioning contact probe for plasmonic lithography

We suggest a geometrically modified probe to achieve high positioning accuracy for plasmonic lithography which can record nanometer scale features and has high throughput. Instead of a cantilever probe, we propose a circular probe which has arc-shaped arms that hold the tip at the center. The modified probe is based on the fixed-fixed beam in material mechanics. To calculate the tip displacement, we used a finite element method (FEM) for a circular probe and compared the results with cantilever probe. We considered a silicon-based micro-fabrication process to design the probe. The probe has a square outline boundary with a length of 50μm, four arms, and a pyramidal tip with a height of 5μm. The ratio of the lateral tip displacement to the vertical deflection was evaluated to indicate the positioning accuracy. The probe has higher accuracy by a factor of 103 and 10 in approach mode and scan mode, respectively, compared to a cantilever probe. We expect that a circular probe is appropriate for the applications that require high positioning accuracy, such as nanolithography with a contact probe and multiple-probe arrays.

High-resolution laser direct writing with a plasmonic contact probe

We developed a contact-probe-based laser direct writing technique with nanometer scale resolution. The probe uses a solid-immersion-lens (SIL) or a bowtie nano-aperture to enhance the resolution in laser direct writing method and scans sample surface in contact mode for high scan speed. The bowtie shaped nano-aperture is fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB) milling on the metal film coated on cantilever type probe tip and dielectric material (Diamond-like carbon) is covered the probe for surface protection. Using a plasmonic contact probe, we obtained an optical spot beyond the diffraction limit and the size of spot was less than 30 nm at 405 nm wavelength. The proposed probe is integrated with a conventional laser direct writing system and by getting rid of external gap control unit for near-field writing, we achieved high scan speed (~10 mm/s). The raster scan mode for the arbitrary patterning was developed for practical applications. Furthermore, we designed developing a parallel maskless writing system for high throughput with an array of contact probes.

Plasmonic lithography modeling and measurement of near-field distribution of plasmonic nano aperture

In plasmonic nano lithography, a photoresist responds to the localized electric field which decays evanescently in the direction of depth. A simple analytic model is suggested to predict profiles of exposed and finally developed pattern with a finite contrast of photoresist. In this model, the developing process is revisited by accounting the variation of dissolution rate with respect to expose dose distribution. We introduce the concept of nominal developing thickness (NDT) to determine the optimized developing process fitting to the isointensity profile. Based on this model, we obtained three dimensional distribution of near-field of bowtie shaped plasmonic nano aperture in a metal film from the near-field lithography pattern profile. For the near-field exposure, we fabricated a nano aperture in a aluminum metal film which is coated on the contact probe tip. By illuminating 405 nm diode laser source, the positive type photoresist is exposed by the localized electric field produced by nano aperture. The exposed photoresist is developed by the TMAH based solution with a optimum NDT, which leads the developing march encounters the isoexposure contour at threshold dose. From the measurement of developed pattern profile with a atomic force microscope (AFM), the three-dimensional isoexposure (or iso-intensity) surface at the very near region from the exit plane of an aperture (depth: 5 ~ 50 nm) is profiled. Using the threshold dose of photoresist and exposure time, the absolute intensity level is also measured. The experimental results are quantitatively compared with the calculation of FDTD (finite- difference time-domain) method. Concerning with the error in exposure time and threshold dose value, the error in measurement of profile and intensity are less than 6% and 1%, respectively. We expect the lithography model described in this presentation allows more elaborated expectation of developed pattern profile. Furthermore, a methodology of mapping is useful for the quantitative analysis of near-field distribution of nano-scale optical devices.

Near-field Optical Lithography for High-aspect-ratio Patterning by Using Electric Field Enhanced Postexposure Baking

In this paper, we propose an electric field enhanced postexposure baking (EFE-PEB) method to obtain deep and high aspect ratio pattern profile in near-field recording. To describe the photoacid distribution under an external electric field during the PEB, we derived the governing equations based on Fick’s second law of diffusion. From the results of the numerical calculations, it is found that the vertical movement of photoacid increases while the lateral movement is stationary as electric field varies from 0 to 8.0 × 10 6 V/m. Also, it is proven that the profile of near-field recording is improved by using the EFE-PEB method with increased depth, higher aspect ratio and larger sidewall angle.