title: Sub-10 nm patterning using EUV interference lithography.
abstract: Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is currently considered as the leading technology for high-volume manufacturing below sub-20 nm feature sizes. In parallel, EUV interference lithography based on interference transmission gratings has emerged as a powerful tool for industrial and academic research. In this paper, we demonstrate nanopatterning with sub-10 nm resolution using this technique. Highly efficient and optimized molybdenum gratings result in resolved line/space patterns down to 8 nm half-pitch and show modulation down to 6 nm half-pitch. These results show the performance of optical nanopatterning in the sub-10 nm range and currently mark the record for photon-based lithography. Moreover, an efficient phase mask completely suppressing the zeroth-order diffraction and providing 50 nm line/space patterns over large areas is evaluated. Such efficient phase masks pave the way towards table-top EUV interference lithography systems.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland. birgit.paivanranta@psi.ch
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Päivänranta
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langner
authors.forename: Eugenie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ekinci