Nathaniel Clark

Date Approved

1-23-2012

Embargo Period

3-3-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. Engineering

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

College

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering

Advisor

Krchnavek, Robert

Subject(s)

Nanoimprint lithography

Disciplines

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Abstract

Innovations are being researched, using materials science, in the areas of sub- 100nm feature production. Current methods such as electron beam lithography (EBL), Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography (EUV), and Nano-imprint lithography (NIL) are currently being studied to deliver a high throughput, low-cost process, and high field size for nano-lithography. EBL is a technique which can generate very small features (sub-10nm) but is a serial process which has undesirable time constraints. EUV is the latest generation of photo-lithography which can produce 35nm features, but has a limited area of exposure. NIL is a high resolution high throughput process, but still has time constraints with imprinter fabrication and pattern predictability. Important aspects of NIL are the creation of imprinters and the anti-adhesive layers used to protect the imprinters. Hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) is a spin on dielectric with properties of a negative e-beam resist which can generate a SiO2 like material. This can then be used as an imprinter for NIL work with significant process advantages over the standard technique for fabricating imprinters. HSQ has been observed to also have a time dependency factor during the electron beam process. For NIL to work effectively anti-stick layers are needed to ensure the correct designs are imprinted. Anti-stick layers such as F13, and Nanonex create a monolayer of atoms designed to reduce the effects of surface bonding on the nano-scale.

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