High-resolution capability of optical near-field imprint lithography

We propose a novel method to increase the resolution of imprint lithography by introducing strong localization of the optical near-field intensity, depending on the mold structure. By optimizing the thickness of the metallic film on a SiO₂ line-and-space (LS) mold without a sidewall coating, we confirmed that the optical near-field strongly localizes at the edge of the mold, using a finite-difference time-domain calculation method. Based on the calculated results, we performed optical near-field imprint lithography using a mold with metallized (20-nm-thick Al without a sidewall coating) SiO₂ LS with a 300-nm half-pitch that was 200-nm deep with illumination using the g-line (λ=436 nm), and obtained features as narrow as 50 nm wide. PACS 81.16.Nd; 81.16.Rf     

Transformation of hydrogen silsesquioxane properties with RIE plasma treatment for advanced multiple-gate MOSFETs

Keeping in line with Moore's law requires increasing efforts in the development of alternative electronic devices. Multiple-gate transistors are very promising in order to suppress short-channel effects and to increase the current drive. Nevertheless, the fabrication of such devices represents a strong challenge for silicon process technology. One of the key steps of the process consists in shrouding the silicon fins in an isolating matrix, using a flowable oxide, namely hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ). The general objective of this work is to show that the properties of HSQ can be modified by appropriate thermal or plasma treatments to modulate its characteristics in terms of etching selectivity and surface topography. SEM characterization has shown that HSQ exhibits excellent planarization and gap fill capabilities, while AFM analysis, on 100 nm thick HSQ films deposited by spin on, reveals a roughness as low as 3 nm. Various oxygen plasma treatments have been applied to densify the HSQ films. Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR) has shown very interesting qualitative and quantitative informations. Chemical and physical transformations from a Si-O-Si cage-like structure into an Si-O-Si network one have been observed. It is shown that exposure to oxygen plasma at high power (290 W) for a long time (20 min) or thermal curing at high temperature improves the resistance to wet etching using 1% hydrofluoric acid (HF). This densification technique holds the remarkable property to transform HSQ into an SiO₂-like structure.     

A two-dimensional analytical subthreshold behavior model for junctionless dual-material cylindrical surrounding-gate MOSFETs

A two-dimensional analytical subthreshold behavior model for junctionless dual-material cylindrical surrounding- gate （JLDMCSG） metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors （MOSFETs） is proposed. It is derived by solving the two-dimensional Poisson＇s equation in two continuous cylindrical regions with any simplifying assumption. Using this analytical model, the subthreshold characteristics of JLDMCSG MOSFETs are investigated in terms of channel electro- static potential, horizontal electric field, and subthreshold current. Compared to junctionless single-material cylindrical surrounding-gate MOSFETs, JLDMCSG MOSFETs can effectively suppress short-channel effects and simultaneously im- prove carrier transport efficiency. It is found that the subthreshold current of JLDMCSG MOSFETs can be significantly reduced by adopting both a thin oxide and thin silicon channel. The accuracy of the analytical model is verified by its good agreement with the three-dimensional numerical simulator ISE TCAD.     

An optimized design of 10-nm-scale dual-material surrounded gate MOSFETs for digital circuit applications

In this paper, we have proposed and simulated a new 10-nm Dual-Material Surrounded Gate MOSFETs (DMSG) MOSFETs for nanoscale digital circuit applications. The subthreshold electrical properties such as subthreshold current–voltage characteristics, subthreshold swing factor, threshold voltage and drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) of the device have been ascertained and mathematical models have been developed. It has been observed that the DM design can effectively suppress short-channel effects as compared to single material gate structure. The proposed analytical expressions are used to formulate the objective functions, which are the pre-requisite of genetic algorithm computation. The problem is then presented as a multi-objective optimization one where the subthreshold electrical parameters are considered simultaneously. Therefore, the proposed technique is used to search of the optimal electrical and geometrical parameters to obtain better electrical performance of the 10-nm-scale transistor. These characteristics make the optimized 10-nm transistors potentially suitable for deep nanoscale logic and memory applications.     

One-kilobit cross-bar molecular memory circuits at 30-nm half-pitch fabricated by nanoimprint lithography

We have developed a process to fabricate a cross-bar structure using UV-curable nanoimprint lithography with a UV-curable double-layer spin-on resist, metal lift off and Langmuir–Blodgett film deposition. This process allowed us to produce 1-kbit cross-bar memory circuits at 30-nm half-pitch on both top and bottom electrodes. Read, write, erase and cross talking were also investigated. PACS 85.40.Hp; 81.07.-b; 81.16.Nd; 85.65.+h     

Fabrication of high-aspect-ratio silicon nanostructures using near-field scanning optical lithography and silicon anisotropic wet-etching process

A new process in which near-field scanning optical lithography (NSOL) is combined with anisotropic wet-etching of (110) silicon is developed for the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio (HAR) nanochannels. In the proposed process, NSOL is applied to produce nanopatterns on a commercial positive photoresist as in an optical lithography. The use of a commercial photoresist is an advantage of this process because it allows the direct application of many photoresists currently available without pretreatment, saving cost and time. A bare (110) silicon wafer coated with a thin Si₃N₄ layer, of approximately 10 nm thickness, is used as the sample and the photoresist is spincoated on the Si₃N₄ layer to a thickness of about 50–80 nm. Nanopatterning of the photoresist using a contact mode NSOL, transfer of the photoresist pattern onto the Si₃N₄ layer by reactive ion etching, and anisotropic wet etching of the silicon wafer using the patterned Si₃N₄ layer as an etch mask, lead to the intended HAR nanostructures. Fabrication of silicon nanochannels with a channel width below 150 nm and an aspect ratio greater than 3 is demonstrated. PACS 81.16.Nd; 81.16.Rf; 85.40.Hp     

Fabrication of freestanding nanoscale gratings on silicon-on-insulator wafer

We report a bottom-up process for the fabrication of freestanding nanoscale gratings on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. Freestanding membrane devices suffer deflection due to the residual stress of the buried oxide layer of SOI wafer. The deflection will affect the device shape and result in the fracture problem for devices fabricated on thin silicon membrane. The bottom-up process is developed to overcome the fabrication issue for thin silicon membrane gratings. The silicon handle layer is removed through back wafer etching of silicon, where the buried oxide layer acts as an etch stop layer. The grating structures are then defined on thin silicon device layer by electron beam lithography and generated by fast atom beam etching. The grating structures are finally released in vapor HF to form the freestanding nanoscale gratings. The freestanding linear/circular gratings, 1,500-nm period grating with the grating width of 200- and 850-nm period grating with the grating width of 100 nm, are successfully achieved on 260-nm silicon device layer.     

Ballistic/quasi-ballistic transport in nanoscale transistor

The current voltage characteristics of the silicon ballistic MOSFETs are introduced and discussed. They are derived by considering the current capacity through the bottleneck point in the channel, and they provide a simple measure of the performance limit. The performance of experimental nanoscale bulk MOSFETs are compared with the ideal ballistic limit. It was shown that the performance degradation due to carrier scattering amounts to several to several tens percent in recent nanoscale MOSFETs. Quasi-ballistic transport in MOSFETs was also analyzed by a simple approach based on the transmission viewpoint. Channel-length reduction was found to yield consistent improvement of the ballisticity. Considerable performance degradation, however, was still found to persist even in 10-nm MOSFETs. The role of each carrier scattering mechanism is analyzed. It is shown that elastic scattering degrades the performance, but the inelastic energy relaxation improves the performance of the MOSFET.     

Analytical modeling of subthreshold current and subthreshold swing of short-channel triple-material double-gate (TM-DG) MOSFETs

An analytical model for subthreshold current and subthreshold swing of short-channel triple-material double-gate (TM-DG) MOSFETs is presented in this paper. Both the drift and diffusion components of current densities are considered for the modeling of subthreshold current. Virtual cathode concept of DG MOSFETs is utilized to model the subthreshold swing of TM-DG MOSFETs. The effect of different length ratios of the three channel regions under three different gate materials of device on the subthreshold current and subthreshold swing of the short-channel TM-DG MOSFETs have been discussed. The dependencies of subthreshold current and subthreshold swing on various device parameters have been studied. The simulation data obtained by using the commercially available 2D device simulation software ATLAS™ has been used to validate the present model.     

Femtosecond pulse laser-induced self-organized nanogratings on the surface of a ZnSe crystal

Periodic nanostructures are observed on the surface of ZnSe after irradiation by a focused beam of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser, which are aligned perpendicular to the laser polarization direction. The period of self-organized grating structures is about 160 nm. The phenomenon is interpreted in terms of interference between the incident light field and the surface scattered wave of 800-nm laser pulses. With the laser polarization parallel to the moving direction we produce long-range Bragg-like gratings by slowly moving the crystal under a fixed laser focus. The nanograting orientation is adjusted by laser polarization and the accumulation effect. PACS 81.16.Rf; 78.67.-n; 33.80.Rv; 82.53.Mj; 81.16.-c     

Image displacement sensing (NDSE) for achieving overlay alignment

In this paper we discuss the application of NDSE [1] (Hewlett Packards nanoscale displacement sensing and estimation technology) as an overlay metrology tool. We describe a method where nanoscale displacement sensing forms the basis of a precision alignment measurement. We will then provide a review of experiments performed to assess the accuracy of one particular NDSE algorithm, tracking silicon targets as they translate on a piezoelectric stage under an optical microscope. We conclude by describing upcoming experiments which will incorporate NDSE as an alignment sensor in a nanoimprint lithography application.Current methods of overlay metrology and many methods of displacement metrology require precise alignment targets, such as symmetric geometric figures or extremely high-Q diffraction gratings. Such patterns are expensive to produce and/difficult to fabricate consistently. On the other hand, NDSE provides displacement sensing by tracking totally arbitrary patterns. As long as the patterns remain fixed, NDSE can provide extraordinary precision. We extend this advantage into a method for alignment sensing, which retains displacement sensing as the key underlying measurement. Hence, as with displacement sensing, the alignment targets need not be held to any absolute standard, pattern asymmetries caused by process variations are not an issue, and precision gratings are not required. PACS 06.30.Bp; 06.60.Sx; 81.16.-c; 81.16.Nd     

Nanolithography with metastable helium atoms in a high-power standing-wave light field

We have created periodic nanoscale structures in a gold substrate with a lithography process using metastable triplet helium atoms that damage a hydrophobic resist layer on top of the substrate. A beam of metastable helium atoms is transversely collimated and guided through an intense standing-wave light field. Compared to commonly used low-power optical masks, a high-power light field (saturation parameter of 10⁷) increases the confinement of the atoms in the standing wave considerably, and makes the alignment of the experimental setup less critical. Due to the high internal energy of the metastable helium atoms (20 eV), a dose of only one atom per resist molecule is required. With an exposure time of only eight minutes, parallel lines with a separation of 542 nm and a width of 100 nm (one-eleventh of the wavelength used for the optical mask) are created.PACS 32.80.Lg; 39.25.+k; 81.16.Nd     

Broadband antireflection gratings fabricated upon silicon substrates

We fabricated a two-dimensional subwavelength structured (SWS) surface upon a crystal silicon substrate. The SWS surface was patterned by electron beam lithography and etched by an SF(6) fast atom beam. The SWS grating had a conical profile, the period was 150 nm, and the groove was approximately 350 nm deep. The reflectivity was examined at 2002500-nm wavelengths. At 400 nm the reflectivity decreased to 0.5% from the 54.7% of the silicon substrate. We also used HeNe laser light to examine the reflectivity as a function of the incident angle.     

Fabrication of molecular-electronic circuits by nanoimprint lithography at low temperatures and pressures

We have utilized a modified version of thermal nanoimprint lithography to fabricate a rewritable, nonvolatile, molecular memory device with a density of 6.4 Gbit/cm². It has the advantages of a relatively low operating temperature of (70 °C) and pressure of (<500 psi or 4.5 MPa), both of which are critical to preserving the integrity of the molecular layer. The architecture of the circuit was based on an 8×8 crossbar structure, with an active molecular layer sandwiched between the top and bottom electrodes. A liftoff process was utilized to produce the top and bottom electrodes made of Pt/Ti bilayers. The active molecular layer was deposited by the Languir–Blodgett technique. We utilized a new class of nanoimprint resist formulated by dissolving a polymer in its monomer. The formulation we used, was poly(benzyl methacrylate), dissolved in benzyl methacrylate with t-butyl peroxy 2-ethylhexanoate added as a self-initiator (8:90:2 by weight). The new resist allowed us to achieve Pt/Ti lines of 40 nm in width and 130 nm in pitch. PACS 86.65.+h; 81.16.Nd; 81.16.Rf     

Magnetic hexapole lens focusing of a metastable helium atomic beam for UV-free lithography

Sources of rare gas atoms in excited metastable states have been used to expose photoresist-coated substrates to demonstrate atom lithography. These thermal atomic beams are usually created by discharge sources that also produce copious amounts of UV radiation. The UV radiation simultaneously illuminates the substrate and may play a complementary role in altering the photoresist together with the metastable atoms. In the experiments reported here, we have isolated the UV component using a magnetic hexapole lens to focus a thermal beam of metastable helium atoms around a fiducial mask that blocks the UV light. This creates an atom lithography exposure that is the result of illumination by the atoms alone. We have also modelled the performance of the magnetic hexapole lens as a potentially useful device for atom lithography. PACS 39.25.+k; 81.16.Nd     

Fabrication and characterization of groove-gate MOSFETs based on a self-aligned CMOS process

N and P-channel groove-gate MOSFETs based on a self-aligned CMOS process have been fabricated and characterized. For the devices with channel length of 140nm, the measured drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) was 66mV/V for n-MOSFETs and 82mV/V for p-MOSFETs. The substrate current of a groove-gate n-MOSFET was 150 times less than that of a conventional planar n-MOSFET. These results demonstrate that groove-gate MOSFETs have excellent capabilities in suppressing short-channel effects. It is worth emphasizing that our groove-gate MOSFET devices are fabricated by using a simple process flow, with the potential of fabricating devices in the sub-100nm range.     

Parallel nanostructuring of GeSbTe film with particle mask

Parallel nanostructuring of a GeSbTe film may significantly improve the recording performance in data storage. In this paper, a method that permits direct and massively parallel nanopatterning of the substrate surface by laser irradiation is investigated. Polystyrene spherical particles were deposited on the surface in a monolayer array by self-assembly. The array was then irradiated with a 248-nm KrF laser. A sub-micron nanodent array can be obtained after single-pulse irradiation. These nanodents change their shapes at different laser energies. The optical near-field distribution around the particles was calculated according to the exact solution of the light-scattering problem. The influence of the presence of the substrate on the optical near field was also studied. The mechanisms for the generation of the nanodent structures are discussed. PACS 81.16.Mk; 61.80.Ba; 81.16.Rf; 81.65.Cf     

Nanostructuring of surfaces by ultra-short laser pulses

Nanostructuring of an extended surface area is performed by ultra-short-pulse laser ablation in the low-fluence regime. A layer of micrometer-sized quartz spheres is used as a lens array in direct contact with the sample. The thickness of a transparent spacer layer under the spheres is adjusted so that the sample is struck by an array of well-focused spots. The threshold character of the ablation process allows the formation of sub-diffraction-limited structures, down to 500-nm holes with 800-nm light. The deposition of the lens array directly on the surface makes the technique broadly applicable, also to samples that show great variations in height. PACS 61.80.Ba; 78.47.+p; 81.16.Rf; 81.65.Cf     

Mechanical properties of silicon nanobeams with undercut evaluated by combining dynamic resonance test and finite element analysis

Mechanical properties of silicon nanobeams are of prime importance in nanoelectromechanical system applications. A numerical experimental method of determining resonant frequencies and Young's modulus of nanobeams by combining finite element analysis and frequency response tests based on an electrostatic excitation and visual detection by laser Doppler vibrometer is presented in this paper. Silicon nanobeams test structures are fabricated from silicon-on-insulator wafers by using a standard lithography and anisotropic wet etching release process, which inevitably generates the undercut of the nanobeam clamping. In conjunction with three-dimensional finite element numerical simulations incorporating the geometric undercut, dynamic resonance tests reveal that the undercut significantly reduces resonant frequencies of nanobeams due to the fact that it effectively increases the nanobeam length by a correct value Δ L, which is a key parameter that is correlated with deviations in the resonant frequencies predicted from the ideal Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and experimentally measured data. By using a least-square fit expression including Δ L, we finally extract Young's modulus from the measured resonance frequency versus effective length dependency and find that Young's modulus of silicon nanobeam with 200-nm thickness is close to that of bulk silicon. This result supports that the finite size effect due to surface effect does not play a role in mechanical elastic behaviour of silicon nanobeams with the thickness larger than 200 nm.     

Blue laser lithography for making antireflective submicron structures on silicon

The application of blue laser lithography for creating antireflective submicron structures on a crystalline silicon substrate was evaluated. The assembled blue laser lithography system was obtained by modifying a commercial blue laser optical pickup head and consisting of a 405-nm-wavelength blue laser and a 0.85-numerical-aperture objective lens. Si substrates were patterned with submicron column patterns of various periods and aspect ratios by blue laser lithography using a sputtered Ge-Sb-Sn-O layer as a resist. The reflectance of the patterned Si substrate decreased to 3% on average in the 300–1000 nm wavelength range, with a low sensitivity to the angle of incident light. Such patterned substrates showed potential for application in crystalline Si solar cells.