Photoresist Polymer Mask Formed From Aqueous Phase Via Polymerization In A Two Dimensional Surfactant Template

Abstract

AbstractAn environmental friendly, aqueous based, thin film technology is investigated that is quite versatile in forming a variety of polymer substrates. The polymer substrates are potentially capable of being utilized as high resolution resists for semiconductor chip production. This process is based on polymerization of monomers partitioned within a two dimensional surfactant template adsorbed on the surface of a silicon wafer. The surfactant template (bilayer) serves to localize the polymerization reaction at the liquid‐solid interface and thereby resulting in the coverage of the silicon wafer with a nano‐thin polymer film. On a polished silicon wafer with a 4 nm silicon oxide layer, film thickness up to 130 nm have been obtained for polystyrene and for poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) which is also used as a standard photoresist mask in electron beam lithography.