Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by the TopDown Approach
Photolithography and Microelectronics: Limitations
Nanolithography: Electron Beam Lithography
Scanning NearField Photolithography
Soft Lithography: Chemically Printing on Surfaces
Scanning Probe Microscopies: Writing on Surfaces
CHM4M2 – Learning Objectives Part 3 –
– Nanoscale Science –
TopDown Approach
After completing PART 3 of this course you should have an understanding of, and be able to demonstrate, the
following terms, ideas and methods.
(i) Appreciate what is meant by topdown and bottomup wrt the fabrication of nanostructures
(ii) Understand the process of photolithography as applied to the microelectronics industry.
(iii) Understand the limits of photolithography.
(iv) Understand the process of ebeam lithography.
(v) Understand the process on scanning near field optical lithography
(vi) Understand the process of dippen nanolithography.
(vii) Understand the process of nanooxidation on surfaces, induced by SPMs.
(viii) Understand that SPMs can not only image, but draw and move particles on surfaces.
What is Meant by TopDown?
We discussed in Part 2 the BottomUp approach to nanostructures: Whereby
atoms were assembled into molecules, and molecules into nanostructures (i)
by covalent bonds (dendrimers), and (ii) by noncovalent bonds
(supramolecules).
The alternative approach is from the TopDown: 6 x 1023 atoms of silicon (28
grams) can be continually divided until only two remain!
This TopDown approach has been enormously successful, and has been the
mainstay of the microelectronics industry for the last forty years…but they are
far from reaching 2 atoms
Using a process called photolithography, feature sizes of less than 200 nm
(about 1000 silicon atoms laid side by side) are routinely made on silicon
chips. Additionally, using this technology 3 billion transistors per second are
made in the US alone!
Lithography Definition: A method of printing from a metal or a stone surface
on which the printing areas are not raised but made inkreceptive as opposed
to inkrepellent.
Photolithography: The Basis of the Microelectronics Industry
3
1 A laser beam writes the circuit pattern for a
1
microchip on a layer of light sensitive polymer
that has been spun coated on a thin layer of UV Light
chromium supported on a glass substrate. The
Laser Beam
irradiated polymer is selectively removed by a
solvent. The unirradiated polymer film is left on Mask
the chromium.
Lens
2 The exposed chromium is then etched away, by
a chemical reagent, whilst the chromium that is
covered by the polymer is not etched away. 2
When the chromium has been removed to
expose the glass, the rest of the polymer is
QuickTime™ and a
then removed by an organic solvent. Photo - JPEG decompressor
are needed to see Thin
this picture. Silicon Wafer with
Glass Chromium Layer of Photoresista
Processes 1 and 2 results in the mask the Substrate Layer
equivalent of a photographic negative
3 When a beam of UV light is directed at the mask, the light
4
passes through the gaps in the chromium. A lens shrinks
the pattern by focussing the light onto a layer of photoresist
on a silicon wafer.
4 The exposed parts of the photoresist are removed, and the exposed
silicon is etched away with a chemical reagent, allowing the pattern Silicon Chips
to be transferred to the silicon, resulting in the silicon chip.
Limitations to Photolithography
The questions that need to be addressed in terms of nanoelectronics are,
• can photolithography be used to create structures of less than 100 nm?
and
• if so what is the limit of miniaturisation?
Presently, the photolithography process uses wavelengths of UV light of <250
nm. To create structures, with dimensions less than 250 nm, using a mask
with features less than 250 nm, will lead to diffraction of the UV light which
blurs the projected image. This problem has been overcome by various
technological breakthroughs related to the design of the mask. However,
making mask structures less than half the wavelength of the light being used
results in the projected image being so diffracted that it will no longer be
viable. Thus, structures of sub 200 nm have been achieved, and with
refinements of the technology there is still some scope for miniaturisation.
An obvious answer to this problem is to use UV light of even shorter wavelengths.
Indeed, this avenue of research is being investigated, but there are at least two
problems that need to be overcome, if smaller wavelengths are used:
(i) Conventional lenses are not transparent to extreme (short) wavelength
UV.
and thus the UV light damages the masks and lenses.
As you can imagine there is a great deal of research effort involving chemists to
design, synthesise and characterise new materials that can address these
problems.
What you continually have to bear in mind is that the microelectronics industry
want to keep using this photolithography process for as long as possible, as the
cost associated with building new fabrication plants using other technologies
are huge.
However, at some point the microelectronics industry will have to bitethebullet,
and adopt new technologies if they are going to have increased capacity and
performance.
There are several technologies that are currently under investigation. Two of
which are.
XRay Lithography
Electron Beam Lithography
At this point, in time these two technologies look as if they may be able to be
developed to a scaleable process for manufacturing silicon chips.
We shall discuss only electron beam lithography.
Electron Beam Lithography
Inducing Crosslinking or
Cleavage of Bonds
NonSpecific Chemistry
Negative Tone Electron Beam Lithographic Resist
Serial Writing is
very slow, e 1 The electron beam initiates a
e chemical reaction in the
compared to eee organic material, either
Photolithography
eeee (ii) leading to fragmentation to
eee smaller molecular
ee components, which are
e soluble in some solvent
(positive tone resist), or
Spin Coated “Organic” (iii) crosslinking to form an
10 100s nm
insoluble network (negative
1 tone resist).
Silicon
2
2 The unirradiated
“organic” is removed with
an organic solvent,
leaving the crosslinked
insoluble network pattern.
3 A chemical etchant is employed to
remove the exposed silica, and in
so doing also etches the irradiated
organic material, result in the
pattern transfer to the silicon.
3
∙ Must interact with the electron beam
∙ Must crosslink to form a network
∙ Must have a high sensitivity to the electron beam (energy efficiency)
∙ The network must be insoluble
∙ The network must have good mechanical strength
∙ The network must be resistant to the etchant that is used to remove
the silicon in the pattern transfer step (aspect ratio)
Composite of Novolac Me
Resin, Acid Generator
and Cross Linking Agent n
COOMe
SAL601
PMMA
Poor Negative Tone Good Resolution
Resolution Resist Positive Tone Resist
Good Etch Poor Etch
Durabilty Resist Durabilty Resist
Neither materials have good sensitivity towards the electron beam to make them
crosslink efficiently, and neither can make a high resolution (thin) and tall (good
etch durabilty) structures.
New Materials Used as Negative Tone EBeam Resist
Me
O N O
O O 5
N
OMe O O
N N
J. Fujita, Y. Ohnishi, Y. Ochiai, S. Matsui O
Appl. Phys. Lett., 1996, 68, 1297 O
M. Yoshiiwa, H. Kageyama, Y. Shirota,
F. Wakaya, K. Gamo, T. Takai
Appl. Phys. Lett., 1996, 69, 2605
These materials were shown to have better
sensitivities toward the electron beam, but
the etch ratios were still poor.
T.Tada, T. Kanayama
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 1996, 35, L63
Next Generation Resists
Large πsurface Sensitivity enhanced
Introduced strained
cyclopropane ring
RO OR
PMMA
Sensitivity enhanced. O O
Crosslinking increased O O RO OR
X X
n n RO OR
Y Y
Etch Ratio 6 6 <1 (<1)
Resolution equals or surpassed PMMA
Etch ratio much better than SAL 601
Sensitivity much better than previous medium molecular weight materials
Scanning Electron
Micrographs of
14 nm
Resist Patterns
RO OR
ScanningElectron Micrographs
RO OR
RO OR
100 nm
35 nm
R = Pentyl
‘A Triphenylene Derivative as a Novel Negative/Positive
Tone Resist of 10 nm Resolution A.P.G. Robinson, R.E.
Palmer, T. Tada, T. Kanayama, M.T. Allen, J.A. Preece,
and K.D.M. Harris, Microelectronic Engineering,
2000, 53, 425428.
20 nm
‘Multiadduct Derivatives of C60 for Electron Beam
NanoResists’ T. Tada, K. Uekusu, T. Kanayama, T,
Nakayama, R. Chapman, W.Y. Cheung, L. Eden, I.
Hussain, M. Jennings, J. Perkins, M. Philips, J.A.
Preece, E.J. Shelley, Microelectronic Engineering,
2002, 61, 737743.
Electron Beam Lithography
Inducing Chemical
Transformations
Specific Chemistry
Patterning: DirectBeam Writing
b
e
a
m
A single
NH2
molecular
monolayer NO2
Background: Chemical Nanolithography with Electron Beams
W. Eck, V. Stadler, W. Geyer, M. Zharnikov, A. ebeam
Gölzhäuser, M. Grunze,
Adv. Mater. 2000, 12, 805-808.
N O2 N O2 N O2 N O2 N O2
S S S S S
Au
N O2 N H2 N H2 N O2 N O2
S S S S S
Au
R1 R1
Excellent system as chemical reactivity O O
between nitro and amino group is different. N O2H N H N N O2 N O2
And furthermore…
S S S S S
Au
SAM on Si/SiO2 Film Formation
Film Characterisation:
1.1 nm
O O O O O O
Contact Angle (surface type)
AFM (roughness)
O Si O Si O Si O Si O Si O Si O
O O O O O O Elipsometry (thickness)
Si Si Si Si Si Si XPS (elemental composition)
Procedure from:
N. Tillman, A. Ulman, J.S. Schildkraut, TL. Penner, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1988, 110, 6136
XPS Chemical Modification SAM Thickness= 1.2 ± 0.2 nm
Calculated = 1.1 nm
NH 2 (399.6 eV)
(e) 447 min
Intensity / arbitrary units
(d) 273 min
(c) 163 min
(b) 97 min
(a) 3 min
Si O
Si O
O
O
Si/SiO2
Si/SiO2
• E-beam F (1s)
XPS
Intensity (arbitrary units)
NO2
• Immersion of the
irradiated surface in a
10% TFAA solution in
dry THF overnight
O
Si O
O
700 695 690 685 680
Si/SiO2 Binding energy (eV)
P. Mendes, S. Jacke, Y. Chen, S.D.
Patterning: DirectBeam Writing Evans, K. Kritchley, K. Nikitin, R. E.
Palmer, D. Fitzmaurice, J.A. Preece,
Langmuir, 2004, 20, 37663768.
SEM Image
e
NO2
b
e
a
m
primary beam energy
= 5 and 6 keV
NH2
doses between 5 µm
= 25 and 300 µCcm-2
Scanning NearField
Optical Lithography
CO2H
SH S SO3 SH
N
O
M
Planar Surface
Au
Nanoscale Molecular Patterns Fabricated by Using Scanning Near-Field Optical Lithography
Shuqing Sun, Karen S. L. Chong, and Graham J. Leggett
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 2414
Generation of Nanostructures by
Scanning Near-Field
Photolithography of Self-Assembled
Monolayers and Wet Chemical
Etching
But there is a fascinating area of chemistry which utilises chemistry taking
place on surfaces.
This type of chemistry is a very mature area of science, because the applications
of modifying surfaces are huge. For instance, surfaces can be made water
repellent, corrosion resistant, nonstick and chemical resistant.
The application of surface chemistry in novel lithographic techniques is an area
which is currently receiving a great deal of research, because the structures
which can be created are on the nanometre scale and are literally only one
molecule thick.
These novel lithographic techniques rely upon the formation of what are
referred to as SelfAssembled Monolayers or SAMs.
The most popular SAMs are formed between a gold surface and alkyl thiols.
SelfAssembled Monolayer Formation
S H
H
Gold Substrate
S
Au
The result of SAM formation is a highly ordered two dimensional solid of the
organic moiety, as a result of the sulfur atoms being bonded in the three centre
hollow of the gold atoms. These stable ordered structures allow SAMs to literally
be written onto surfaces.
NanoContact Printing 2
1 3
A monomer of PDMS is poured PDMS Monomer
1 over a master, which has been PDMS Stamp
produced by photolithography
(200 nm features) or even
electron beam lithography (20
nms).
4 The PDMS stamp is inked with a
solution of the thiols, and
pressed against a gold
substrate.
The thiols form a SAM on the gold
5 surface only where the stamp has
been brought into contact with
the gold.
SAM of Thiol
Gold Surface
50 nm
This technique can produce structures down to 50 nm lateral
dimension and only one molecule thick (about 1 nm!).
Scanning Probe Lithography
Moving Atoms One By One to Create Nanostructures
There are a group of techniques referred to as Scanning Probe Microscopies
(SPM), examples of which are the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Scanning
Tunnelling Microscopy (STM).
They have quite literally revolutionised the way the atomic world is viewed, and
in part have been responsible for the increased research activity in nanoscale
science
Indeed, the significance of these techniques was recognised with the award of
the Nobel Prize in Physics to Rohrer, Binning and Gimzewski in 1986.
http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1986/index.html
The SPMs allow atomic mapping of surfaces, such that individual atoms on a
surface can be visuallised, or adsorbate molecules on the surface can be
visuallised (see Nature 2001, 413, 619621),
Additionally, they can induce chemical reactions on a surface.
Furthermore, molecules and atoms can be moved and positioned on a surface
(see www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm).
We shall look in more details at SPMs in Part 4, but the following examples
illustrate the power of these techniques for creating nanostructures by,
(i) depositing molecules onto a surface (Dip Pen Lithograpghy),
(ii) Inducing chemical reactions on a surface (NanoOxidation), and
(iii) Moving individual atoms/molecules on a surface.
Additionally, the examples show how surfaces can be imaged at the nano and
sub nanoscale.
DipPen Nanolithography
http://www.chem.northwestern.edu/~mkngrp/
DipPen Nanolithography
(DPN) is an new Atomic
Force Microscope (AFM)
10 nm
based softlithography
technique which was
recently discovered in
the labs of Prof Merkin.
D. Piner, J. Zhu, F. Xu, and S. Hong, C. A. Mirkin, "DipPen
Nanolithography", Science, 1999, 283, 661–63.
Hong, S.; Zhu, J.; Mirkin, C. A. "Multiple Ink Nanolithography: Towards a
MultiplePen Nanoplotter," Science, 1999, 286, 523525.
Hong, S.; Mirkin, C. A. "A Nanoplotter for Soft Lithography with Both
Parallel and Serial Writing Capabilities" Science, 2000, 288, 18081811.
Writing by Inducing NanoOxidation on a Surface
as tips in atomic force microscopes (AFM) for
substrates. Ordinary graphite pencils write by
tips permits a writing rate 0.5 mm/secfive
times faster than was possible with older AFM
tips.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/quate_group/index.html
The way the nanotube writes is for an electric field, issuing from the nanotube, to
remove hydrogen atoms from a layer of hydrogen atop a silicon base. The exposed
silicon surface oxidizes; thus the "writing" consists of narrow SiO2 tracks. The
Stanford results should help the development of nanofabrication, since tip wear
problems have been an obstacle to the use of probe microscopes in lithography
Writing by Moving Individual Atoms Or Molecules!
The AFM and STM can be utilised to move atoms and molecules which have
been adsorbed to a surface, either by physically pushing the atoms/molecules
(AFM) or picking them up by electrostatic forces (STM) and positioning them at
another point on the surface.
Thus, these processes in principle allow the creation of nanostructures.
The SPM is being used as a robotic arm on the nanoscale, but is controlled from
our macro world, to position individual molecules!
Is this the TopDown or BottomUp?
The following pictures illustrate the power of these techniques for controlling
the positioning of atoms on the nanoscale.
The Surface of Platinium (STM)
Xe on Ni (STM)
Quantum Coral Carbon Monoxide Man
Fe Atom Ring on Copper CO2 on Platininum Surface
Summary: TopDown Approach
PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY is the mainstay of the microelectronics industry for
creating patterns on a surface. However, the miniaturisation that can be achieved
will hit physical barriers in the coming years.
EBEAM LITHOGRAPHY is one methodology that is being employed in research
labs as the possible successor to photolithography, for creating patterns on
surfaces with sub 100 nm features sizes. The main problems that need to be
confronted to make this process a viable methodology are the requirements to (i)
increase the speed of the serial process and (ii) to have materials that respond
efficiently to the ebeam. It should be pointed out that there are other techniques
that are also being investigated, such as Xray lithography.
NANOCONTACT PRINTING is a simple methodology for creating nanostructures on
surfaces by chemically imprinting structures. This process, however, is too slow
to be used in the electronics industry as a mass production technology, but could
be used to build prototype or very specialised devices. Nanocontact printing has
other potential uses in areas such as sensing or biological evaluations.
SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPIES are being used in several ways for creating
nanostructures:
(i) A modified AFM tip with an optiocal probe is used as a
nanoscale light pencil to induce chemical reactions on a surface
(Scanning Near Field Optical Lithography SNP)
(ii) An AFM tip is used as a nanoscale pencil to either deposit a
chemical that will react with the surface (DipPen Lithography)
These approaches allow the creation of films one molecule thick, and with several
nanometres lateral dimension.
(iii) An AFM tip induces a chemical oxidation at the surface, and
This approach allows nanostructures of 10 of nms to be created, but in principle,
should be able to produce smaller structures. Unfortunately, the process
produces oxides, which are generally not very good conductors. However, we are
only limited by the imagination of the chemist to use other reactions in this
process!
(iv) An STM positions individual molecules on surfaces.
This approach is the ultimate limit of fabrication. The control of matter on this
length scale is already shedding new light on basic quantum physics (quantum
coral). However, its use in the electronics industry for creating structures is a long
way off: The process is extremely slow and generally requires extremely low
temperatures in order that the adsorbates stick to the surface.