NOVEL ROUTE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF X-RAY MASKS FROM A RANGE OF ORGANOMETALLIC FILMS

The majority of commercial photomasks and X-ray masks produced at pres ent are manufactured by a multistep process which involves the use of etching. This route imposes a limitation on the resolution that can be achieved. We describe here a new approach which utilises a recently s ynthesised range of organometallic compounds designed to undergo direc t conversion to metal under the influence of electron beam irradiation . This opens up the prospect of a novel route for the production of bo th X-ray masks and EUV masks in essentially a single processing step. The attainable resolution is better than 300nm, since the process invo lves the direct deposition of metal atoms under the influence of a foc used electron beam. The method is very versatile in that a whole range of metals and metal alloys can be deposited, e.g. gold, platinum and palladium and their corresponding alloys. We describe here the product ion of a gold X-ray mask, which was used in conjunction with a compact laser plasma source.