CONDUCTIVE POLYANILINE - APPLICATIONS IN X-RAY MASK MAKING

Image-placement control with electron-beam lithography is directly inf luenced by charging effects during exposure. One of the primary chargi ng sources is the buildup of electrons in the nonconductive resist fil m, We have evaluated the use of a conductive-polyaniline film as a top coat over the resist during exposure, Critical parameters including im age-size variation, image placement, and defect density were compared for masks with and without the conductive-polyaniline topcoat. It was found that the performance is dependent on the resist exposure dose. F or a low-sensitivity resist (i.e., a resist requiring high exposure do se), significant improvements for image size and image placement can b e achieved with the implementation of a conductive topcoat. For a high -sensitivity resist (i.e., a resist requiring low exposure dose) with single-pass writing, preliminary results show that charging is current ly not the primary driver of image-placement errors. (C) 1997 American Vacuum Society.