Nanolithography

Presented By Mohammad Rameez

Introduction
Nanolithography is the branch of nanotechnology concerned with the study and application of fabricating nanometer-scale structures, meaning patterns with at least one lateral dimension between the size of an individual atom and approximately 100 nm. Nanolithography is used during the fabrication of leading-edge semiconductor integrated circuits (nanocircuitry) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). As of 2012, nanolithography is a very active area of research in academia and in industry.

Resolution
K1 R NA
K1 is the system constant is the wavelength of the light NA = 2 ro/D, is the numerical aperture

State of art Lithography

SPM Lithography
STM can move atoms around on a surface.

Iron on Copper

Iron on Copper

Eigler, et al. from IBM

Scanning Probe Lithography

SPMs used to modify a sample surface:

1. Atomic Manipulation
2. Mechanical and Termomechanical Pattering 3. Local Oxidation

4. Electron Exposure of Resists

1. Atomic Manipulation
SPM probe tip used to push or pull a particle Push: Electric field and dipole moment of atom lead to potential energy gradient Pull: Chemical binding force between tip and atoms or Magnetic interactions

Pick-up of magnetic beads with the magnetizable tip in the presence of an external magnetic field

(Jrn F. Lbben, EMPA swizerland)

Manipulation of Individual Atoms Using STM Techniques

(a) Probe tip is maintained a distance from the surface that is sufficient to avoid disturbing the adsorbed atom (b) Probe tip is moved closer to the surface so that the adsorbed atom is attracted to the tip

Positioning single atoms with scanning tunnelling microscope. Eigler, D. M. Nature 1990, 344, 6266

The entire logo ~ 3nm!

The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at low temperature. (4K) to position 35 Xe atoms on a single-crystal Ni surface. THIS IS FUN!!!

Limitations of STM Manipulation

Must be carried out in a very high vacuum to prevent stray atoms or molecules from interfering with the process Surface of substrate must be cooled to temperatures near absolute zero in order to reduce thermal diffusion that would gradually distort the atomic structure being formed
These limitations make STM manipulation of individual atoms and molecules very slow and expensive

Commercial Nanomanipulator NanoManipulator DP-100/200

2. Local Oxidation
Voltage bias between probe tip and sample Intense electric field Local oxidation Silicon: Growth of silicon oxide from crystal Si Electric-field-enhanced oxidation

Nano-oxidation

HF development

Nanotrench on Silicon

3. Mechanical & Termomechanical Patterning

Probe tip used to plough a soft layer Heating of the tip to melt the layer

Mechanical patterning (Graham Leggett, 2002)

4. Electron Exposure of Resist

Electric bias between conductive probe tip and sample Field emission of electrons Chemical changes induced (cross-linking, scissions bonds, etc.) Etching

Local Electrodeposition

Dip Pen Lithography

Dip-Pen Lithography (DPN)

An alternative scanning probe technique that does show promise for practical applications In DPN, the tip of an atomic force microscope is used to transfer molecules to a substrate surface by means of a solvent meniscus Process is analogous to using an old-fashioned quill pen to transfer ink to a paper surface via capillary forces

Dip-Pen Lithography
Tip of an atomic force microscope is used to deposit molecules through the water meniscus that forms naturally between the tip and the substrate

The resolution of DPN depends on several parameters:

The grain size of the substrate the texture of paper controls the resolution of conventional writing. chemisorptions and self assembly can be used to limit the diffusion of the molecules after deposition.

The tip-substrate contact time and thus the scan speed influence DPN resolution.
by controlling the rate of ODT transport from the tip to the substrate.

Relative humidity seems to affect the resolution of the lithographic process

The size of the water meniscus that bridges the tip and substrate depends on relative humidity

Dip Pen Lithography

Thermal Dip Pen Lithography

Diagram illustrating thermal dip pen nanolithography. When the cantilever is cold (left) no ink is deposited. When the cantilever is heated (right), the ink melts and is deposited onto the surface. (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 128(21) pp 6774 - 6775 , 2006)

Nanosphere Lithography (NSL)

Metal (Au, Ag) Deposition Array of Metal deposit with electron beam evaporation (EBE) system Control over shape & size of patterns by varying bead radius

Polystyrene Beads
as Mask Si Substrate

Nanosphere Lithography (NSL)

1. Bead Coating
(self-assembled monolayers)

2. Deposit Metal

3. Bead Removal
(toluene, tape)

Top View

Side View

Nanosphere Lithography (NSL)

Targeted Pattern

scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image resulting from fabrication process

Soft lithography
Soft lithography represents a nonphotolithographic strategy based on self assembly and replica molding for carrying out micro- and nanofabrication 1. Generate patterns and structures with feature sizes ranging from 30 nm to 100 mm 2. Convenient, effective, and low-cost

Xia, Y. N. and Whitesides, G. M. Soft Lithography. Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 28, 153-184 (1998)

Process Schematic
A prepolymer (2) covering the master (1) is cured by heat or light and demolded to form an elastomeric stamp (3), which is inked by immersion (4) or with an ink pad (5) and printed onto the substrate (6), forming a selfassembled monolayer, which is transferred into the substrate by a selective etch. Scanning electron micrographs show the master, image of the stamp, and the printed and etched pattern.

Good and Bad Examples:

Black lines drawn to mark the edge of the snowflakes

Nano-Imprint Technology
Nanoimprintlithography patterns a resist by deforming the resist shape through embossing (with a mold), rather than by altering resist chemical structures through radiation (with particle beams). After imprinting the resist, an anisotropicetching is used to remove the residue resist in the compressed area to expose the underneath substrate. 10nm diameter holes and 40nm pitch in PMMA can be achieved on Sior a metal substrate and excellent uniformity over 1 square inch.

Direct Nanoimprinting of Metal Nanoparticles

Ko, S. H., et. al, Nano letters, Vol. 7, No. 7, p1869, 2007

Step-and-Flash IMPRINT Lithography Commerical nanoimprinter: $0.5-(SFIL) 1.6M

Lower forces: 100 kPa No heating, no cooling Longer lifetime, faster imprint Sub 5-nm demonstrated

Issues
Production of templates Defect control

Small throughput Materials

Magnetolithography

Nanostencil Lithography

Stencil lithography is a novel method of fabricating nanometer scale patterns using nanostencils, stencils (shadow mask) with nanometer size apertures. It is a resist-less, simple, parallel nanolithography process, and it does not involve any heat or chemical treatment of the substrates (unlike resist-based techniques).

AFM Lithography
Undercut

AFM Bulldozing

Developing

The AFM tip is used to "bulldoze" through a top layer of resist. Submersion in developer produces an undercut in the lower layer of resist. The top layer then serves as a shadow mask for deposition. After removal of resist, the deposited nanostructure remains. For nanocontact printing, the initial structuring is performed in parallel with a contact mask.

Depositing

Lift Off

Thank You!