Key Features

High & Ultra-High Resolution

Resolution is much more than smallest feature size. Depending on the application feature density, restrictions on geometry, line-edge roughness or critical dimension uniformity (CDU) can be the actual decisive requirements for “resolution”.

For ultra-high resolution below 100 nm size, the actual process (resist choice, etching, etc) as well as metrology become increasingly critical.

For our lithography systems, we specify numbers that can be easily demonstrated during site acceptance tests of the systems. With more effort and good process control, much better results can be achieved (as shown with some of the examples).

At Heidelberg Instruments we push technology to approach the physical limits of resolution. Our optical lithography systems can reach dimensions down to 300 nm (smaller also demonstrated). Below this resolution we offer our NanoFrazor systems which have been demonstrated to go even below 10 nm resolution using their ultra-sharp heated tips.

High resolution lines and spaces (optical)

500 nm lines and spaces patterned with the DWL 66+ and etched into a chrome photo mask.

Small gaps

Gap between two metal electrodes made with NanoFrazor lithography in PPA resist and a simple lift-off process.

Gold trimer

Densely packed gold pillars for plasmonic applications. The PPA resist all around the pillars was removed by the heated NanoFrazor tip. Ar ion beam etching was applied to transfer the pillars into a 20 nm Au film.

Sub-15 nm half-pitch Si features

Lines and spaces with 13.8 nm half-pitch and 2.3 nm LER (3 sigma) in Si. The structures have been etched by reactive ion etching around 50 nm deep into Si from features written into PPA resist by NanoFrazor lithography.
Publication by Ryu et al., ACS Nano, 2017

Magnetic ellipses

An ultra-high resolution lift-off process was applied after NanoFrazor lithography in PPA to deposit well defined ellipses made of SiO2 on top of a granular magnetic material.

Sub-10 nm lines and spaces

NanoFrazor lithography at its (current) limits. The NanoFrazor AFM image shows linletts with 8.7 nm half-pitch written 2-4 nm deep into PPA. (Pattern transfer was not demonstrated yet at this high feature density PPA structures)

Products

  

  • DWL 66+
  • NanoFrazor Scholar
  • NanoFrazor Explore
  • NanoFrazor Professional