Diffusion and solubility of Au implanted into the AZ1350 photoresist

In the present paper we report diffusion and solubility results for Au into the photoresist AZ1350 Au was implanted into AZ135D films at very low ener gy (E = 20 keV) and fluences (Phi = 10(12) and 5 x 10(12) Au/cm(2)). In thi s way the radiation damage introduced by the implantation process was minim ized and cluster formation was avoided. Annealing was performed in the 150- 300 degrees C temperature range and the as implanted and thermal treated sa mples were analyzed using the Rutherford backscattering (RBS) technique. Fo r the lowest implantation fluence the results have shown a regular atomic d iffusion process characterized by an activation energy of E-a = 640 meV. In stead, for Phi = 5 x 10(12) Au/ cm(2) the diffusional mechanism has reveale d the effects of the radiation damage. In addition solubility measurements indicate that the solubility limit at 250 degrees C is of the order 0.3 at. %. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.