Resist hardening by fluorocarbon plasma for electron-beam and optical mix-and-match lithography

Electron-beam direct write for lithography is a slow process. If lithograph y with a small linewidth is carried out by the electron-beam direct write a nd the remaining pattern uses optical lithography, the throughput of maskin g can be increased. Electron-beam and optical lithography mix-and-match can be realized in a number of ways. In this article, we report a resist harde ning process that uses low power fluorocarbon plasma. It is a simple and lo w-temperature process. An analysis of the process variables will be discuss ed. The critical dimension of the optical masking does not change significa ntly in our process. This method can be used to improve the electron-beam l ithography throughput as well. (C) 2001 American Vacuum Society.