X ray

X ray features
- Shadow printing method
- Higher resolution and lower diffraction due to short wavelength and narrow linewidth
- Lower need for vacuum as there are no charged particles in x ray beams
- But vacuum is preferred as in any high energy radiation to avoid its absorption b gases
- Higher flood exposure (deep x ray lithography) throughput than direct writing using e-beams
- Sources of x-ray: 1) elctrom impact tubes 2) laser-based plasmas 3) synchrotrons (our main
concern) but why? Due to price to be used in ICs
- Better than photolithography: large Depth of focus, development conditions less strict and lower
time, high reproducibility due to independence of surface or substrate type
- Immune to low atomic particle contamination
- Since low diffraction so proximity masks are used so long lifetime for masks
- The gap affects resolution
- High aspect ratio up to 100
- Disadvantages: no photography thus requiring 1:1 shadow printing
- LIGA technique uses x ray
- Also x rays scanners wee developed which provides the option of tilting the masks or substrates
with respect to the beam to get slanted structures

X ray resists
- high sensitivity to x-rays, high resolution and resistance to chemical, ion, and/or plasma etching,
thermal stability of >140°C and very low resin absorption
- the mostly used one is PMMA (acrylic) in +ve
- PMMA has lower sensitivity at such low wavelengths thus lower throughput of the process, the
solution is incorporating x-ray-absorbing high atomic number atoms
- Poly(lactides) are also good as +ve x ray resists, featuring higher sensitivity than PMMA
- Negative resists as PGMA offer higher sensitivity but lower resolution due to swelling
- The IC industry requires a typical resist layer not more than 1–2 μm thick.
- 10 and 1,000 μm, are dictated by the need for high-aspect-ratio micromachines
- The technology of applying thicker layers of photoresist remains challenging.
- In the case of exposures with very high energy x-rays (hard x-rays), the associated wavelength
is measured in angstroms, not in nanometers. At those energies, almost every type of polymer
becomes a “resist,” and even “resistless” lithography becomes possible as thin films can be
etched, vaporized, or ion-implanted directly
 X-ray masks
- Technologies for sub-micrometer circuitry do not transfer for manufacturing an building micro
machines
- An x-ray mask basically consists of a pattern of x-ray-absorbing material (a material with a
high atomic number, Z, such as gold, tungsten, or tantalum silicide) on a membrane substrate
transparent to x-rays (a low Z material, e.g., Ti, Si, SiC, Si3N4, BN, Be)
- The thin film requires a high youngs modulus due to mechanical stresses in the absorber

Charged particle beams (ions and electrons)

- Either narrow beam direct writing or flood exposure

- Mask fabrication in narrow beam writing is much simpler because it is a software mask
- In direct writing: the Dose of the beam=(i *time of flash/Area) and the resists should react
sufficiently with such dose
- Large DOF is available
- In flood exposure of e-beam: masks are made of heavy metals on semitransparent organic or in-
organic membranes
- Due to high cost of mask fabrication and its instability due to heating by high energy beams, the
narrow direct beam is prevalent

Electron beam lithography (EBL)

- Focused electron beam of higher resolution than optical bcause of shorter wavelength
- Direct write e-beam vs Electron project lithography as scalpel

Direct write e-beam

- Raster scanning(moves through a regular pattern and only scans when exposure is needed) vs
vector scanning (same as laser cut where it hops from feature to the other thus it saves more
time)
- SEM (scanning electron microscope) machines were used and further modified for alignment
without markers
- Advantages of EBL: low diffraction, control of energy and dose delivered to resist coated wafer,
electron beam can be modulated and deflected easily by magnetic and electrostatic field,
software mask, higher precision, lower defects
- Disadvantages: scatter in the solid affecting resolution, complex environment (vacuum), high cost
and most importantly its low throughput
- Another issue is also backscattering from substrate into resist which is called “proximity effect” and
thus changing line of width later on
- E-beam writing can be additive or subtractive
Electron emission sources
- Field (cold field emission small tungsten wire), thermionic (SE Shotcky emission at 1800 K from a
blunt tungsten tip -based on thermal xcitation I the field presence-) and photoemission (photons
hit the emitter)
- In using SEM, if sensitive materials are involved thus low valtage is reuired while maintaining the
high current for resolution which couldn’t be achieved by using tungsten tips

Electron beam resists

- Nearly all polymers break their bonds when bombarded thus all of them are resists
- PMMA exemplifies an inexpensive positive e-beam resist with a high-resolution capability and a
moderate glass transition temperature Tg (114°C).
- Another copolymer is used as a negative resist with good thermal stability
- AXT is another chemically amplified positive resist for low energy electron beam
- Another resist is prepared through evaporation of fluoride on thin carbon flims where during
bombardement fluoride escapes

Electron projection lithography EPL

- SCALPEL Scattering with angular limitation projection lithography, a projection electron beam
technique, using a 4× reduction and a step and-scan writing strategy
- the mask consists of a low atomic number membrane covered with a layer of a high atomic
number material
- using the difference in electron-scattering characteristics between the membrane and the
patterned material generates contrast. The membrane scatters electrons weakly and to small
angles, whereas the patterned layer scatters them strongly and to high angles. An aperture in the
back-focal (pupil) plane of the projection optics blocks the strongly scattered electrons, forming a
high-contrast aerial image at the wafer plane.
- In SCALPEL, the aperture, rather than the mask, absorbs unwanted energy. Thus, the functions of
contrast generation and energy absorption are divided between the mask and the aperture so
minimizing mask thermal instability.
- In PREVAIL a modification is made to SCALPEL which is the motion of the optical axis as well with
the electron beam, mask and wafer so reducing aberrations
Micromachined e-beam sources
- The reason behind using them is the need of low energy beams to have lower back-scattering and
it also leads to higher sensitivity
- Consist of an array of focused e-beams of CFE with tungsten tips

- Another method is parallel stm Scanning Tunneling Microscope

IBL ion beam lithography

- Either flood exposure (ion projection lithography IPL) by broad beam of H+, ,He2+,Ar+ or direct
writing of liquid gallium metal
- Higher resolution than the rest due to smaller wavelength
- Requires only from 1-10% of e-beam dose to expose resist
- PMMA resist which absorbs most of ion preventing damage to underlying structures

Direct and focused i-beam

- Liquid metal ion is used
- LMI sources have high brightness and low spread thus high current density ion beam
- Varity of applications rather than patterning as doping due to reaction of ions with substrates
- Better and smaller focus spots than e and x rays
- Different functions from ic milling repair, maskless implantation, failure analysis….
- Slow operation but high aspect ratios
- 3d complex structures can be achieved by high energy protons

IPL ion projection lithography

- A stencil mask of si membrane with patterned holes which are illuminated by a uniform ion beam
- Mask is fabricated by soi
- Low exposure time
- All lenses used are electrostatic
- Higher resist sensitivity, negligible ion scattering in resist and negligible back scattering
- Potential damage to electronic functions