Award Abstract #0521523
MRI: Development of an Energetic Atom Beam Lithography System for Nanosystem Prototyping and Manufacturing

NSF Org:	CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation
Initial Amendment Date:	August 2, 2005
Latest Amendment Date:	August 2, 2005
Award Number:	0521523
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	George A. Hazelrigg CMMI Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation ENG Directorate for Engineering
Start Date:	September 1, 2005
Expires:	August 31, 2009 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$296142
Investigator(s):	John Wolfe wolfe@uh.edu (Principal Investigator) Demetre Economou (Co-Principal Investigator) Paul Ruchhoeft (Co-Principal Investigator) Dmitri Litvinov (Co-Principal Investigator) Vincent Donnelly (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	University of Houston 4800 Calhoun Boulevard Houston, TX 77204 713/743-9222
NSF Program(s):	MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION
Field Application(s):	0308000 Industrial Technology
Program Reference Code(s):	MANU, 9146
Program Element Code(s):	1189

ABSTRACT

The remarkable increase in the processing power of silicon integrated circuits over the last half-century was enabled by a scalable lithographic approach that advanced through the generations by reducing the wavelength of the exposing radiation; first visible light (435 nm), then ultra-violet (365 nm), and now the deep-ultraviolet wavelengths (193 nm) that will drive the minimum feature size in manufacturing to 45 nm within 5 years. To advance further requires even smaller wavelengths, possibly soft x-rays (13 nm) or charged particles, electrons or light ions (<10-6 nm). However, the sub-nanometer pattern placement accuracy and line edge roughness needed at this scale is significantly more challenging with charged particles than with photons owing to their electrostatic interaction with fixed, or mobile, charge in the mask or on the wafer. Our approach uses energetic neutral hydrogen atoms to provide immunity to charge build-up while, at the same time, limiting diffraction to that of protons. We propose to develop a turn-key, mass-selected, atom beam lithography instrument with 5-10 nm resolution over a 2 cm2 exposure field and sub-10 second exposure times. An instrument with these specifications will dramatically improve nanosystem prototyping capability both at the University of Houston and Nationally. It will also provide a test-bed for nanosystem manufacturability. The development project involves the following key tasks: (1) The development and characterization of a high brightness, energetic hydrogen atom source using a mass-selected, multicusp proton source and a high pressure gas cell to convert the parent proton beam to neutral hydrogen atoms. (2) The development and characterization of a novel pulsed source concept with ultra-low energy spread. This will significantly enhance the throughput of the basic system developed in task 1, above. (3) The development of an ultra-high precision nanostepping system with a lead-screw driven, interferometrically-controlled, wafer stage and a piezoelectric, flexure stage for the mask.

We will explore the fundamental resolution limit of atom beam lithography due to the combined effects of diffraction, penumbra, shot noise, secondary electron range, and resist scattering during the qualification tests of the instrument.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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B. Craver, A. Roy, H. Nounu, and J. C. Wolfe.  "Mechanical nanostepping for atom beam lithography,"  Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B,  v.25,  2007,  p. 2192.

D. J. Economou.  "Fast (10s -100s eV) Neutral Beams for Materials Processing,"  Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics,  v.41,  2008,  p. 024001.

Dhara Parikh, Barry Craver, Hatem Nounu, Fu-on Fong, and John C. Wolfe.  "Nanoscale pattern definition on non-planar surfaces using ion beam proximity lithography and conformal, plasma-deposited resist,"  Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems,  v.17,  2008,  p. 735.

Hong-jie Guo, Barry Craver, Jackson Reynolds, and John C. Wolfe.  "Design studies for a high brightness, energetic neutral atom source for proximity lithography,"  Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B,  v.25,  2007,  p. 2188.

J. C. Wolfe and B. P. Craver.  "Neutral Particle Lithography: A simple solution to charge related artefacts in ion beam proximity printing,"  Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics,  v.41,  2008,  p. 024007.

L. Xu, N. Sadeghi, V. M. Donnelly, and D. J. Economou.  "Nickel atom and ion densities in an inductively coupled plasma with an internal coil,"  Journal of Applied Physics,  v.101,  2007,  p. 013304.

Lin Xu, Azeem Nasrullah, Zhiying Chen, Manish Jain, Demetre J. Economou, Paul Ruchhoeft, and Vincent M. Donnelly.  "Etching of nanopatterns in silicon using nanopantography,"  Applied Physics Letters,  v.92,  2008,  p. 013124.

V. Parekh, A. Ruiz, P. Ruchhoeft, H. Nounu, D. Litvinov, and J. C. Wolfe.  "Estimation of scattered particle exposure in ion beam aperture array lithography,"  Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B,  v.24,  2006,  p. 2915.


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