Electron beam exposure mechanisms in hydrogen silsesquioxane investigated by vibrational spectroscopy and in-situ electron beam induced desorption

Hydrogen Silsesquioxane (HSQ) is used as a high-resolution resist with resolution down below 10nm half-pitch. This material or materials with related functionalities could have widespread impact in nanolithography and nanoscience applications if the exposure mechanism was understood and instabilities controlled. Here we have directly investigated the exposure mechanism using vibrational spectroscopy (both Raman and Fourier transform Infrared) and electron beam desorption spectrocscopy (EBDS). In the non-networked HSQ system, silicon atoms sit at the corners of a cubic structure. Each silicon is bonded to a hydrogen atom and bridges 3 oxygen atoms (formula: HSiO3/2). For the first time, we have shown, via changes in the Si-H2 peak at ~;;2200 cm -1 in the Raman spectra and the release of SiHx products in EBID, that electron-bam exposed materials crosslinks via a redistribution reaction. In addition, we observe the release of significantly more H2 than SiH2 during EBID, which is indicative of additional reaction mechanisms. Additionally, we compare the behavior of HSQ in response to both thermal and electron-beam induced reactions

EUV Binary Phase Gratings: Fabrication and Application to Diffractive Optics

Diffractive optics play an important role in a variety of fields such as astronomy, microscopy, and lithography. For the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region of the spectrum they have been difficult to make due to the extremely precise control required of their surface structure. We have developed a robust fabrication technique that achieves the required topographic control through the deposition of a thin film of Si on a Cr etch stop. We have fabricated binary phase gratings using this approach that have an efficiency of 80% of the theoretical maximum. The technique is applicable to any type of binary phase optical element