HIGHLY SENSITIVE RESIST MATERIAL FOR DEEP X-RAY-LITHOGRAPHY

The present paper describes the first chemically amplified negative-to ne resist for deep X-ray lithography (DXRL). The choice of the resist material for this new resist has been oriented on the experience of th e photo, electron beam and X-ray lithography (XRL) for microelectronic applications. In this work a negative tone resist containing a novola k, a crosslinker and an acid generator was developed by variing the di fferent components. It was found that only few components, which prove d to be good in thin films, were suitable for DXRL. The new resist ful fills all technological requirements and shows an increased sensitivit y by a factor 15 as compared to the standard resist material, poly(met hyl methacrylate). This tremendous increase in sensitivity leads to a huge cost reduction of the DXRL process. Furthermore, an excellent adh esion of this new resist to metallic substrates has been achieved whic h allows to fabricate free standing columns with an aspect ratio of 80 .